XCOM: Remnant
by Archwar
Summary: As the Grimm attack Vale, a new force suddenly appeared and invades. Ruby Rose attempted to defeat the invaders and succeeds to an extent, but gets knocked out by a lucky blow. She is then taken prisoner and imprisoned on ADVENT's earth. Now with limited support, she must find out what happened to Remnant before the Avatar Project is completed.
1. Chapter 1: ADVENT

As Ruby ran down the corridors of the Amity Colosseum leading a assortment of Huntsmen and Huntresses, she couldn't help, but ponder what was going on. The sting of Penny's… death was still fresh followed by a broadcast with a familiar voice yet could not remember whose it was foretelling war was concerning. She didn't believe that the kingdoms would go to war, but all of the negative emotions that followed had attracted a giant Nevermore that could have easily killed Phyrria if she or one of the others hadn't intervened because of what happened to Penny.

Even now, Phyrria still looked conflicted despite Jaune's reassurances that there was another person responsible for this. Ruby knew it wasn't her fault and pinned the blame on whoever it was.

The panicked screams of people and distant roars of Grimm, however, didn't allow Ruby to dwell on it. After all, they had to protect people.

As they got closer to the exit, the muffled rattle of gunfire and dwindling screams grew louder. Ruby guessed that General Ironwood was attempting to evac anyone he could before the airborne Grimm could overrun the Colosseum. There was also a dull headache growing, but Ruby just chalked it up to stress like how Ironwood had mentioned… til a voice began speaking cryptically.

 _The pieces are set and the plan shall be carried out even though an unexpected move was made it works in our favor. Commance._

The tone it had was confident and assertive like a wise leader yet contain a undertone of tiredness.

Whatever was going to happen didn't sound good.

Ruby and the others reached the landing platforms to see Ironwood walking towards a ramp to a airship full of Atlesian Knights,, gripping a pistol. Ironwood turned to face them, a stern and serious expression adorned his face as usual, as they stopped.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked.

"Grimm are crawling all over the city, the White Fang have invaded Beacon, and to make matters worse some," Ironwood looked to his right," vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command the skies are out of our control. So I'm."

He suddenly whipped his pistol up and fired a single round into a Ursa trying to sneak up on them. It let out a growl as it was thrown onto the ground and began to evaporate like how all Grimm did when they died.

"Taking it back," he said coolly as if a big black bear of murderous nature didn't just try to maul them. He turned and began walking up the ramp when Jaune asked what they should do. Ironwood turned again, a solemn look on his face and placed his hands behind his back.

"You have two choices, defend your Kingdom and your school or save yourselves. No one will fault you if you leave."

The Huntsmen and Huntresses looked at each other conflicted. Ruby, though, had already made up her mind.

"Let's move out!" Ironwood raised his voice for the Knights to hear and climbed the ramp. However, a terrible, piercing shriek like that of a Nevermore, but only deeper and more menacing rumbled through the air causing the General and the students to stumble before stabilizing.

"Oww," Ruby rubbed the inside of her ears to get rid of the horrid ringing. The headache was growing worse with each passing second especially since the shriek.

"What was that?" One of the students asked.

Then another shriek came and yet. It seemed it was emanating from one of the city's nearby mountains. A few moments passed as everything, even the Grimm, halted to see what would happen.

Another shriek came to pass causing Ruby's headache to grow worse and worse. Whatever those shrieks were, they seemed to be connected with Mr. Head Voice as well as the stupid pain.

Finally, another shriek came to pass, but this time Ruby's vision shook and people staggered while trying to regain their balance. Shortly after, she say beyond Ironwood's ship a green dot far too small to be seen by most others, but it was there and it was growing rapidly.

"There's a gro-" Ruby started to say, but was cut off and the dot suddenly expended growing into a deep purple, meaning hole that had patches constantly fluctuating between shades of the color.

Before anyone could recover from the unexpected development, a giant ship crawled out followed by a heavy and steady stream of frisbee-shaped disks that zoomed by. The nearby Nevermores and Griffons attacked recklessly, rushing the UFOs.

Oddly, instead of engaging, they flew on despite taking hits heading out in all directions. However, the biggest ship simply stay put making Ruby wonder why.

Then a deep, resonant boom echoed across all of Vale as dozens upon dozens of green blobs were launched from ontop of the ship all heading for the city. She also noticed much smaller yet faster ships heading straight for the Colosseum. They were hard to make out their shape because of their black plating that protected them from the smaller Grimm, but the red streaks glowed ominously.

Within minutes, the small ships began exploding unlike the disk-shaped ones due to the larger Grimm that tore through their armor and yet through a series of maneuvers that Ruby compared to a clever cat outwitting a dog, most managed made it through the onslaught.

Ruby felt her headache subsided, but Head Voice didn't go away.

 _Now._

That didn't sound good.

"This is certainly unexpected, but none the less I still have to get the ship back," Ironwood said, keeping his gaze trained on the stationary ship as he walked up the rump.

"General, I don't know how to explain this, but… there's a voice in my head that seems to know what's going on," Ruby said.

Ironwood stopped and looked at Ruby. Before he could say anything, however, a soldier began yelling over his earpiece, panic struck and the sounds of chaos, gunfire, Grimm, and some other thing that sounded like a rumbling tummy Ruby occasionally got. Just a lot more beast-like.

" _Sir! We're under attack by some new hostile! It's not Grimm!"_

Ironwood held a finger to his right ear still maintaining a calm posture.

"What is it then?"

" _I- No. No! NO!"_ The soldier shouted as the comms went static.

"Soldier? Anyone there? Shit," Ironwood cursed as he tried calling upon any of his of them responded.

"What just happened?" One of the Huntsmen ased and the general shot a look that seemed to say really?

Shortly after, a shrill sliced through the air and everyone turned to see the ships from earlier hovering at the edge of the landing platforms. Ruby could then see the design. It looked like a box with a face and the side of it slid open revealing a trio of dark clad troops that looked human.

They looked like colored swapped Atlas soldiers with slightly more armor and one even had a red cape. Their dark weapons were also boxed design with a vertical slit at the end of the barrel making Ruby wonder what kind of gun it was. It also appeared like a rifle made from Atlas.

The black Atlas soldier cosplayers jumped down, their boots making a dim clang, and they raised their weapons towards, but they all dropped dead as Ironwood scored three consecutive headshots. Sprays of liquid orange flew and splattered the ground. It almost appeared as though it was blood.

Ruby was shocked upon seeing their deaths. She had seen people get hurt, but never before someone killed. Grimm were different as they were nothing more than balls of fury and kill, kill, kill. Yet again they did lift up their weapons as if to shot them.

She then heard Ironwood going back up the ramp and into the ship not commenting on what just happened or instructing them what to do. So they have to decide what to do.

"I don't know what's going on, but now we have two places to go to. We need to separate into two groups, one at Beacon and the other here," Jaune said.

Some of the Hunters looked at each other quizzingly questioning the logic behind splitting up.

"Jaune's right, whoever these… people are they're here to hurt others and I am sure you have friends and family here. If we split up we can handle two problems at once," Ruby said trying to support Jaune's plan.

Then the sound of a ship shrieking caused her to turn to see Ironwood's dropship free falling out of view, but there weren't any baddies near it. Ruby looked back at the others to see a mixture of emotions. Doubt, fear, anger, and hatred all went in a matter of seconds.

Somebody needed to get that ship back so she figured it might as well be her and without warning, Ruby used her semblance to blast over the group. She heard Jaune yelling for her, but went on heading straight for the Arena.

When she arrived the Griffons and the two teachers were gone, replaced by a small group of the black armored people surrounding Penny's torn up body. There was another man, dark skinned and in a lab coat, kneeling over looking over the body.

Ruby also overheard one of the baddies.

" _Tygan, how long must we tarry as our forces are running distraction, but are suffering heavy casualties."_

"Looking for and removing the data chip stored within this synthetic will prove to be difficult as this machine is unlike anything that ADVENT has ever produced. Even with the proper equipment it would take hours to extract what we are looking for," the dark, bald man said as he turned Penny's head over and took out some kind of oval-shaped device.

No, they were going ruin Penny further!

"Get away from her!" Ruby yelled as she transformed Crescent Rose into its scythe form and rocketed off towards them.

They turned, one even raising the typical stop hand sign, and started to fire. Most of the bullets either missed or were dodged, but a few struck Ruby's aura. The projectiles shrugged off yet somehow it drained her aura faster than normal bullets would.

However, they couldn't land most hits and as soon as she was close enough, Ruby used the blunt end of her weapon to strike the closest one's head. It let out a pained howl as it flew across the Arena skidding to a halt.

The others didn't even stop their barrage and because she was so close now, more of the bullets smashed into her. Ruby still whacked them alongside the head or landed a blow to the gut injuring them, but not killing.

Surprisingly though, the ones that weren't knocked out simply got back up to fire again. Ruby dodged, somersaulted, and occasionally used her scythe to cut their rifle in a attempt to subdue them. There was no need for further deaths, not after all that has happened.

Eventually, the last one with a shoulder cape was knocked out. With no one to guard Tygan, Ruby mustered a look of anger and directed it at him. He simply shot a strange look as he rose up.

"If you're trying to look angry, you should take lessons," he deadpanned completely ignoring the fact Ruby raised Crescent Rose to her side ready to strike.

"Why? Why are you attacking us?" She asked.

"The Elders wanted it."

Ruby was confused. Weren't elderly people supposed to be wise? And not go around wanting to harm people?

"Well, your elders are… are stupid!" Ruby yelled. She expected him to say something in their defense, but he didn't.

"Do you have a emotional attachment to this synthetic?" He asked curiously.

"Her name is Penny!"

"Hmm, I wonder what that means?" Tygan raised a hand to his chin and started rattling off words Ruby didn't even knew existed nor their meaning.

"Quit treating her like some kind of thing! Penny's a living thing with a soul!"

Ruby _really_ wanted to smack him because of his insistent treatment of Penny, but she needed information.

"It has… a soul?" Tygan raised a eyebrow with a genuine expression of confusion.

"Yes!"

"Well, I say this was a interesting endeavor. I think your assistance is greatly appreciated. _Now."_

"What?" Ruby asked. As soon as she finished, she felt something akin a burning ball of fire smash into her back practically depleting all of her remaining aura as she fell face flat on the floor.

"Ouch," she moaned. Ruby turned her body to its side and watched as her vision blurred back into clarity. She saw Tygan kneeling down again, but a black boot slammed down in front. Looking up, Ruby saw a person in a dark, almost black, purple trench coat with armor strapped beneath it. Unlike the others, this one didn't have a helmet showing his pale white skin and insane indigo eyes brimming with happiness? He tilted his head and smiled sinisterly before raising a boot and thrusting it into Ruby's face.

Everything went black.

 **ADVENT WORLD NEWS**

" _Loyal citizens, for the last hundred years we have enjoyed peace and prosperity because of the enduring patience and generosity of the Elders even despite the attempts at war by Earth's corrupted political bodies! It still continues to this day even when there are those few who would repeat the same mistakes of the Old World, but these trivial matters shall never sever the bonds we have forged between us._

 _Yet, as I speak, our loyal and courageous soldiers attempt to thwart a plot that would have seen that bond broken! Not from here, on Earth, but from another planet called Remnant. When the Elders reached out to them, they commited the same mistake as the Old World governments did and causally murdered our peaceful diplomats. And now, our hands forced, we strike in self-defense!"_

A clip of ADVENT troops and officers backed up by MECs patrol the streets of a burning city. They are attacked by soldiers wearing gray and orange armor from the buildings, but the ADVENT soldiers quickly defeat them.

" _And the Elders, ever patient and kind, seek to forgive once those who ordered the deaths are brought to justice!"_

Another clip shows a medic tending to a wounded civilian that appears human. She is bleeding from a head injury that would have otherwise been fatal. Shortly after, the clip cuts to a squad of officers forcing down a man in a pristine white suit and cuffing him.

" _As well as to remove their horrid system of using_ children as soldiers!"

A new clip shows a group of children wielding unusual weapons attacking ADVENT officers who attempted to use stun rounds to pacify them. All attempts failed and the camera shakes as a Sectopod strides into view and rose on its two legs. It then opened its front and the clip is cut off.

" _So, as we near the hundredth anniversary of Unification, let us never forget the same mistakes that Remnant is making as the Old World did. Let us rejoice in the total eradication of corruption and the insurgency known as-"_

The feed suddenly becomes static before it was replaced by a man concealed by the shadows.

" **XCOM lives."**

 **A/N: Well, I've been out of the loop for a while, but I've returned with a few new ideas. Hopefully I can actually complete this one unlike the last story.**

 **Anyways, with XCOM now a underground resistance and all hell breaking loose in the RWBYvrse I decided to throw it into a blender. Wonder what will come out?  
**


	2. Chapter 2: XCOM

**A/N: Well, this story is generating a lot more interest than I thought. Am I doing something correct? Well, anyways, thanks for reading people! There's also a few things I would like to go over. First, I'll attempt to have OCs at a minimal which means characters from other Universes, well known or otherwise, are going to pop up.**

 **Second is that there's going to be major divergences from Canon of XCOM plus with mods now out I'll likely be on the lookout for noteworthy ones and add them here.**

 **Finally third, there are going to be elements from other Universes such as Mass Effect and FEAR, but this'll primarily be a crossover between RWBY, XCOM 2, and a third one which I'll save for the end.**

Pain.

Sleeply.

Mud.

Sleeply.

Rain.

Sleeply.

Stomach growling.

Sleeply.

Gunfire and yelling.

Sle- AWAKE!

Ruby shot up, feeling pain ripple down her body and some sticky substance clinging on. The crackling of fire, guns, screams, yells, and curses filled the air as rain splattered down. The once green grass scorched by the spreading flames.

She rubbed her head while using a hand to support herself as she tried to remember what happened. There was a attack on Amity Colosseum by both Grimm and some kind of force. Then some dark skinned man planned on ripping out Penny's chip. Even after knocking out his escorts, the man called Tygan causally questioned Ruby much to her annoyance apparently stalling long enough for someone to knock her out.

After that, everything was fuzzy. Ruby remembered something implanted into her head, but beyond that it was just in pieces. Well, she'll figure everything out once she finds rest of RWBY and a safe place.

Looking around, she saw railway tracks and a burning train in disarray as if someone had just slapped it off it's way like a angry kid. Multiple sleek, black cars were flipped with some kind of pod-like containers filled with a yellow liquid and had a floating form of a… person? The pods were scattered about, some upside down and others lodged in the ground while the rest remained safely tucked inside the boxcars.

Ruby looked down at her black and red attire noticing that the some substance glistened in the rain. It was also sticky, but rolled off as the water droplets exploded on it. Gross.

She wiped off what was left and started to search around to see if she couldn't find her friends.. She then noticed a container lodged between some rocks a distance. Unlike the others, this one had its lid smashed open and a trail of yellow led back to her. She was… in that, for some reason.

The young Huntress proceeded to hastily walk around, peering into the containers, even when there was heavy gunfire. However, it sounded far off in the east. Hopefully it stayed that way.

Yet as she checked one of the pods near a tree snapped in half, pained moans came from near one of the car wreckages. Poking her head up, Ruby saw a man crawling away from a pair of the soldiers. A blood trail stretched from him to beyond the boxcar.

The two soldiers, one regular and a caped one, causally strolled over chatting like there wasn't a man dying. Cruel.

When they reached the man, the regular soldier used a boot to pin him visibly putting weight on his torso while the other unloaded its rifle's mag and looked at the top. It then slammed the mag back in, clicking it, before holding it up to the man's head.

Instinctively, she reached for Crescent Rose only to find it wasn't there. Duh, the baddies would have taken it.

Instead, Ruby scooped up a ball-sized rock and threw it at a nearby tree. The following shattering of bark caused the caped soldier to turn towards the source, shouldering its rifle. However, the regular was the one to lift their own rifle and put a trio of bullets into the back skull of the man before whipping about to face the tree as well.

Ruby was horrified. How could they just kill a man and investigate a strange noise? Yet again they were bad guys so what did life matter to them?

It also gave some time to get out even if she didn't like how it happened. She immediately took off, using her Semblance and shot forth to a cluster of pine trees. When Ruby landed, a few unusual birds squawked in fright, flying off from the sudden intrusion.

Ruby uttered a apology to them as she maneuvered through the trees while staying close to the rail tracks in hopes of finding RWBY. Most of the boxcars were a few dozen meters away from the woods, but a few had been flung into it leaving behind a trail of broken trees and pod containers. Most of them had people inside, but when Ruby attempted to one open, namely by bashing a rock on what she thought was the 'lock' which was nothing more than a control panel with funny letters, a high pitched wail echoed bringing a squad of the black clad soldiers running.

Thankfully, aside from a glancing shot, Ruby escaped. The troopers, though, now knew she was out of her own little pod and Ruby had nearly stumbled upon a lot more patrols near the forest. Without Cresent Rose or backup, there were few other options. Hand to hand was certainly out unless she wanted to embarrass herself like what she tried to do with the White Fang grunt. She just had to make due with what she could, namely running away as fast as she could.

As the search dragged on, Ruby noticed a decrease in the chaotic gunfire and yells. Combined with the steady rise of the baddie patrols, she assumed whoever was fighting them were had pulled out. The rainy day was also slowly waning away into a rainy night.

Soon Grimm activity would skyrocket. Though, interesting she hadn't seen any as of yet.

Ruby was also getting tired. Between dodging and using her semblance, the projectiles used by the troopers weren't like anything she had come across. In fact, after she discovered a abandoned rifle sitting next to a orange pool, Ruby managed to dismantle it after receiving a shock when she accidently pulled the trigger and shortly after it fizzed out for some reason.

Ruby would have been excited at the prospect of figuring out how a weapon worked, but this time she wasn't. Perhaps it was because it had been used to kill or the situation.

Either way, the weapon itself was a wonder. Somehow, instead of using Dust, it utilized almost pure metal and a unnatural black powder which she mistook as Dust at first, but didn't have certain attributes. It could also use a magnetic fire system similar to Atlas soldiers yet much more polished. It was a amazing regular weapon… that was being used against her.

Darn, if only they had come in peace.

She quickly pieced it back together. Just because it didn't have a alternate mode didn't mean it couldn't incapacitate people.

By the time she finished putting the rifle back, the last rays of the sun faltered and faded into blackness as the stars twinkled into existence. The darkness descended upon the forest enveloping Ruby as she continued to search for RWBY, but to no avail. Still, they had to be here.

After all, they were a team.

After looking and avoiding patrols for hours on end, the moon had risen halfway towards the middle of the sky. It must be on the ok side because Ruby didn't saw any of the debris when she looked up. She was also growing increasingly tired. Her mind pleaded for rest, muscles were aching, and yawning became more and more.

Perhaps a short nap wouldn't hurt? She had to find a place to hide though otherwise she'll risk being spotted so Ruby began to look for a tree, but her search rewarded her a building instead. A very old, overgrown one that looked as though it would collapse at any moment. There was a tree nearby that wasn't like the pine trees. It was a large, branched one with green leaves.

Ruby found it odd that such a tree was so far from the Emerald Forest. She shrugged. It didn't matter and she jumped up onto a branch.

Of course, there were still the patrols who hadn't decreased in numbers, but there was no increase. Besides, she wasn't really going to sleep… just… rest…

…

…

…

…

"Well little lady, whatcha doing up in that tree?"

Ruby jolted awake and surprised by the sudden voice, fell down. She flailed her arms out, frutilly trying to grasp the branch, but ultimately hitting the ground. Conveniently, she landed in a pile of leaves causing a flurry of leaves.

Shorly after, the rushed sound of crunching boots reached Ruby's ears and she looked up to see a dark skinned man wielding a concerned expression. The man also had a black stubble and mustache along with aging wrinkles. Despite being elderly, the man's bloodshot eyes held a fierce fire just like Yang. A cigar was also firmly clamped between his jaws.

"You alright Riding Hood?"

"Uh, ya!" Ruby said as she got up.

"Good," the man then held out a gloved hand," Sergeant Johnson."

Ruby took and shook it awkwardly.

"Ruby."

That was also when she noticed Johnson was wearing some rather interesting armor. Unlike the previous people she met, he had a olive green chestpiece and joint pads while wearing a hat. The butt end of a weapon was poking out behind his back as well.

"Hey, Sarge, care to help out with the loot?" A a slightly annoyed hidden voice asked. It sounded like it came from the train.

"In a minute Greenhorn, I'm dealing with a sensitive situation," Johnson yelled.

"And what would that be?!"

"A little lost Red Riding Hood."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. What was a Red Riding Hood?

"Another lost kid?!"

"Yep."

"We can't keep rounding up strays Sarge! They love their late night nom nom raids!"

"And if we let ADVENT have their grubby little claws get ahold of them there's no telling what horrible things will happen."

A moment of silence passed.

"You got a point there," the voice replied in defeat.

Ruby felt incredibly uncomfortable with what they were implying. Just what did this ADVENT do to kids? That also brought up the question, what was a ADVENT?

"What's ADVENT?" Ruby asked.

Johnson shifted his gaze with eyebrows raised up and a smile that told, are you serious?

"Are you serious? You don't know who the bastards are?"

Ruby shook her head and felt the use of a swear word was a little excessive, especially in front of a fifteen year old.

"Well, in short, they're a bunch of alien worshiping assholes who think their masters are kindly old elders. The Lord knows what they're doing to the poor fools who were stuck in that blacksite Menace 1-6 found. Also, the so called 'Great Elders' weren't satisfied with Earth and started invading random planets, the latest one being called Remnant."

As Johnson spoke, Ruby noticed he spoke with great enthusiasm and every word caused her to droop a little more.

She was on a different planet, or dimension, at least from what she could gather. She would have found that awesome if it wasn't for the fact that the 'Elders' as they were called invaded other worlds.

" _What happened to them?"_ Ruby thought. Johnson mentioned that something horrible was being done to people at a 'blacksite'. What if Yang, Weiss, and Blake were there?! Was she possibly going there as well? Too many questions began to form erecting a headache, but she looked at Johnson and asked,"what happened to Remnant?"

"In short, complete massacre, at least from what the Prop Heads said. We have little to no information to go on aside from what the news spewing out 'all is going well!' I bet it's going well indeed," Johnson snorted, but Ruby mistook the last part as trueful.

"How can you say that?!"

"Say what now? Did you not hear the sarcasm in my voice?" Johnson asked in a huff of annoyance.

"Sorry… it's just that I thought you meant it and I AM from Remnant."

Johnson's expression went from annoyance to a serious and to the point one, but it held a undertone of fear.

Ruby didn't know why the sudden change and was about to ask why when she heard a click from behind her. Turning her head, she saw a red haired woman no older than her thirties shakingly pointing a rifle of some kind at her. A complete look of fear of frozen despite the woman trying to maintain a calm and threatening demeanor.

"Greenhorn, pack it!" Johnson yelled. Greenhorn, however, kept her gun trained on Ruby.

"She say's she from Remnant, Sergeant! I don't know if that's true, but you know what happened to Jackal squad when they met one!"

"What's going on?" Ruby asked.

"And yet she's not trying to kill me. As for what is going on, Miss Happy Trigger Finger is jumping to conclusions. We have only met _one,_ " Johnson held up a finger and wiggled it," so far. It's not like our PSI Ops couldn't handle it."

"What did they look like?" Ruby asked, fearful of it being one of her teammates. While she was sure it was one of the White Fang or perhaps another evildoer, these Elders sounded advanced. She wouldn't put it past them if they had managed to develop some mind control device like in the movies.

"From what I saw, she was about 5'4" or 5'6" with brown hair and eyes and was pale white. Clothing was also brown and black, with some armor. For some reason, she also had bunny ears. Not sure what ADVENT was on when the deployed her. Also, Greenhorn, keep your finger off the trigger!"

"Did she also have a camera?"

"From what I heard, the little Bunny was taking pictures during the battle and then she used our own weapons against us. I have no idea what kind of bullshit the aliens are going to come up with next.."

Ruby was relieved and frightened at the same time. It wasn't one of the girls, but it sounded a lot like it was Velvet. The normally shy Fanus was here, but why would she attack people? Did it involve mind control?

"What happened to her?"

"Pointman 'heard' her via Psionics, asking for help. Richtofen then proceeded to do a field brain surgery to remove the chip and resulted in a coma. To say the Commander was less than pleased about the whole ordeal would be a understatement."

"Sir! Are we seriously giving sensitive information out to a Xeno?!" The woman yelled.

"Greenhorn, Ruby hasn't tried to turn me into a pile of meat yet so pack it."

Ruby's fear was growing with each revelation. So ADVENT did have the technology to mind control people. What happened to the girls then?

"Sarge, I'm being serious! We don't know if she's acting all sweet and innocent before butchering us all!"

"Then we'll just have the good old doc rip out the chip. Also, I have question Ruby, how did you escape?"

"Well, I guess my pod-container thing got broken."

"Hmm, happens when the alien bastards slip up and get their asses handed to them by the local resistance."

Before Ruby could ask more questions, a new voice had joined them though it sounded slightly static.

" _This is Central to Spartan-Actual, ADVENT just got wind of what's going on and are sending reinforcements to your position. Get any supplies you can and hightail it back to Firebrand."_

"Looks like our time just got cut," Johnson muttered," alright Ruby, you're coming with us. Any questions you have can be answered back at the Avenger."

"Sarge!"

"Stow it Greenhorn. Are you forgetting we also have a Psi Operative with us?"

"What? Paxton Fettel? That man is ax-crazy sir! I don't even know why we have him!"

"Because he's able to make the aliens regret coming to Earth and being alien bastards. Ruby is also coming with us and that is final, now move it soldier!"

Greenhorn grumbled something about not being a soldier and stormed off. Not long after, Johnson threw his head towards a clearing in the forest where blue smoke rose. Ruby looked up and saw a sleek gray steel and orange airship in the night sky. It made a speedy descent as its skids shifted into place and landed.

Johnson gestured for Ruby to move and took off running towards the ship. She chased after him, arriving at what she presumed to be Firebrand.

Around the ship were half a dozen people wearing various colored yet structurally same armor and unusual, glowing crates. There were also… corpses of the baddies and a few large snake-like creatures with form fitting armor.

And Greenhorn was poking one with her rifle.

"Rookie! Quit acting all twitchy. They're dead and they're staying that way," Johnson said.

"You never know!" Greenhorn replied, still poking the corpse.

"Perhaps you should just load the dead."

Ruby shivered when she heard a voice behind her. It held such cold that it was as if it was a Grimm speaking and turning she saw a white skinned man wearing dark green jacket. A symbol that looked like a stick figure placing its hands on its hips was below his right shoulder. A dreadful air clung to him and the man's green eyes held such hate and anger that could burn through a Grimm.

"Well, Mr. Emo, care to help out?" Johnson asked.

"That is for your own troops, I have to deal with a captive."

"Uh-huh. Alright Mr. Emo, go do your little P.P. thing."

A couple of the people, including Ruby, chuckled even though she had no idea what P.P. stood for.

"Hehe, P.P.," a brown haired man snickered.

Mr. Emo frowned and walked away dragging his aura of fear away.

"Alright soldiers, get these bodies onboard before ADVENT drops on our asses!" Johnson barked and the others worked faster.

Ruby shifted around, unsure of what to do.

"Should I do something?"

"Nope, you're going in and sitting with Firebrand."

" _I'm stuck babysitting a kid aren't I?"_ A new feminine voice said out of thin air.

"Yep, and make sure you have the Arc Thrower at its highest setting."

" _If the kid tries anything, Ol Faithful will deliver a high voltage shock enough to put her out of commission."_

"How does she know I'm here?"

" _Because I'm a ghost, ooooh!"_

"Not funny!" Ruby frowned.

"Firebrand."

" _Yes?"_ Firebrand said innocently.

"Shut up."

" _You're no fun Sarge!"_

"And you're eating up our time. We don't want the aliens chewing us out!"

" _Point taken, I'll shut up now."_ Firebrand said, but the tone sounded very like Yang when she wasn't going to stop. Oh boy, how did she become a pilot?

That also reminded her, she was suppose to be trying to find the others!

Ruby nearly shot off when she felt a firm grip on her collar and drag her off.

"Hey!" She protested and began kicking the ground in a attempt to escape the iron grip.

"No, you are not running off to tell any surviving aliens that we're here. I don't give a flying damn if you aren't under mind control either, you're going into the Skyranger and staying there."

"But I have to find my friends!"

"Told you sarge!"

"Shut it Greenhorn! And Riding Hood, chances are your friends are under the aliens' mind control and we have ADVENT about to crawl all over us. We'll try to find your friends if possible."

Ruby stopped struggling.

"You can find my friends? And why do you keep calling me Riding Hood? I don't ride hoods."

"Maybe, no guarantees, but I'm sure the tech heads can dig up something. Your outfit also reminds me of a old story I used to read. Now, get."

Johnson released his hold on Ruby who then walked over to FIrebrand and up the ramp into the cabin. Inside were six seats spaced out evenly. She took the right one nearest to the exit in case the baddies appeared and they needed help.

Shortly after, she heard a door slide open opposite of the exit and looking at the source, a rather tiny person in gear stepped out, in fact she was around Neo's size if only a bit bigger. Ruby couldn't see the face since it was concealed by what she could only describe as a Sci-Fi helmet. Ruby assumed this was Firebrand. She prepared herself for needless jokes.

"Catch," the pilot said and tossed something.

Ruby raised her hands trying to catch the object and she felt harden plastic rubbed against her palm. She wrapped her fingers around it instinctively. Ruby then brought it up to eye level and the item she held was a walkie talkie.

"Now you see that's a-"

"Walkie talkie."

Firebrand remain silent for a couple of seconds before responding.

"No, it's a… _Shit vobis,"_ she chuckled.

Ruby considered that the strange sounding woman could be possibly joking, but she was on another world. Maybe they just had different names for the same thing?

"So, this works like a Walkie talkie right?"

"Yep, if it is what I am assuming it is then all you need to do is press a button and speak into it."

"Thanks!"

Firebrand chuckled some more for whatever reason and walked backed into the pilot's seat. The door closed behind her and not long after that, a couple of the people shuffled into the cabin. A young blue haired man, possibly around his late twenties, was complaining about having to deal with Johnson while a older, brown haired woman in her late thirties kept telling her companion to quiet it down.

When they saw Ruby, the duo stopped and stared awkwardly at her who waved. The two didn't do anything aside from going to their seats and still stare uncomfortably and before Ruby could ask them to stop, more people came into the cabin taking seats. Johnson and Paxton, however, didn't instead opting to stand.

When everyone had taken a position, the ramp closed and Ruby felt the ship lift off. She was also surprised at how little turbulence there was.

Firebrand's voice then spoke over the internal comms.

" _This is Firebrand, all XCOM operatives have returned safely and we are returning to base. Hope you got the booze ready Central cause it was one hell of a op."_

" _Copy Firebrand and good work out there people. We recovered supplies while managing to hit it where it hurts."_

" _Central, Spartan managed to recover a abductee claiming to be from Remnant sir."_

" _Thanks for the info, I'll alert the Commander and we can decide what to do with them. In the meantime keep a eye on them."_

" _Read you loud and clear Central."_

After the report, fearful silence hung heavily and Ruby felt a hateful glance directed at her. She didn't know why though, but Johnson noticed that the normally cheery squad was all jumpy over a little girl. As far as he knew, Remanent could possibly have only a few select persons able to do the feats Bunny Girl could and the data recovered from the Blacksite supported it. However, despite it being common knowledge, the others were quick to assume that Riding Hood could magically form weapons out of light so he decided to do something about it.

"Troops, we sure did give ADVENT a beating," he grinned and there were murmurs of agreement. This surely wouldn't do," and no one got hurt. Tell me how many operations go as smoothing as this one?"

There was some more murmurs and a hell yeah from Greenhorn.

"The aliens think they have the upper hand now do they? Well, let me tell you that this was some of the finest asskicking I've seen since the invasion. They're probably crying to their dear old Gramps that XCOM gave them such a spanking they won't be able to sit down for weeks!"

Hell yeahs and trumpet smiles broke the fear.

"We have just shown them that we're still as badass as ever, ready to hand them their bags and kick them off our planet while laughing at their pathetic excuse for a army. 'Instant, awesome training' my ass. I've seen chimps do better than what they did today! And we're no chimps, we're XCOM! The baddest of the bad and when the aliens try to fight us again, we'll just rip their spines from their bodies, beat them with it, and throw it away laughing!"

The squad cheered in agreement, except for Paxton the angsty bastard, but now it was time to put the icing on the cake.

"And ADVENT thinks they have earth in their little, fat fingers, but guess what? XCOM is going to send them packing!"

" _Annnd that's one for the history books,"_ Firebrand said over the comms," _we're back at base. The Commander wants Emo to report any info he has. Also, quit messing with the corpses, the science team keeps finding crudely drawn pictures on them and it's hindering their research."_

Some of the troopers snickered and Ruby wondered why.

"Certainly they don't mind mustaches on the Pectoids!"

Oh, that's why?

"Or the glorious male genitalia!"

Really?

"I am one hundred percent certain they enjoy seeing pussy on the Sneks."

…

How immature were these people?

"If you're done with the jokes Scatterbrains, take the order seriously or else the List is going to be brought back," Johnson threaten.

Despite the threat, the team was cracking inappropriate jokes and laughing. Johnson and Paxton both rolled their eyes at how childish their underlings could be. Ruby just couldn't wrap her mind around why they were making such jokes.

By then, though, the cabin shook causing everyone to jerk as Firebrand landed the Skyranger onto a landing platform and the ramp dropped down. The team got up and out, still laughing while Ruby, Johnson, and Paxton walked out to meet a man wearing a light tan, diamond pattern sweater and a knife strapped to his right shoulder. A stubble like Johnson's was on his aging face as well.

"Well done Johnson and Paxton. Question though Pax, how much information did you extract this time?" The man asked.

"Nothing more than incoherent images and muffled voices as usual. Sometimes they feel like they're just puppets, empty and obedient."

"Well, the Commander wants it anyway."

"Of course."

With that, Paxton, or Emo, strolled off heading to whoever this Commander person was.

"I say Spartan team is doing well Bradford, though I'm dealing with a bunch of toddlers. Anyways, I'll be working the grunts if ya need me," Johnson said and walked away leaving Ruby and Bradford.

"So you're the person who is claiming to be from Remnant?"

"Yes. Ruby Rose!"

"John Bradford."

Before Ruby could say something else, a familiar voice from behind John caused her silver eyes to narrow.

"Bradford, I am curious as to know why I keep finding… art on the corpses we-"

Tygan stopped at the left side of John and stared while Ruby mustered a hateful glare. Bradford shifted his gaze between them confused at what was going on.

"YOU!"

 **A/N: Oh, look Johnson, Paxton, and a cliffhanger all in a single chapter. If the two are OOC let me know and I'll improve what I can though it would be great if someone can provide a descriptive detail of their personality so I can make them more IC. Also, I'll attempt to update this story every Friday or Saturday, but there's some stuff going on as of right now so it might be late.**

 **Anyways, unto the reviews!**

 **Pokeman1280:**

 **Thanks! I don't base my XCOM peeps off of anyone so that's how if they die it won't hit the feels.**

 **stonebreakerironhill:**

 **There's going to be quite a bit of stuff I'm throwing in to make ADVENT tougher and as mentioned before, there's a chance the rest of RWBY had been brainwashed into becoming soldiers for the aliens which is going to cause all sorts of problems. As for the hunters trying to take Remnant back, this is going into story spoilers so I can't give you a answer.**

 **Also, thankfully they don't know about the Maidens… yet.**


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome to the Avenger

"YOU!" Ruby released a uncharacteristical hate filled hiss while Tygan stood still as if silently hoping for her not to notice him.

Bradford kept glancing between the two and when he was about to ask what was going on, the wind stirred as rose petals fluttered about. Huh, where did those come from? But he looked at Tygan to see Ruby up in his face and speaking so fast it appeared as if a chipmunk had discovered caffeine.

"WhatdidyoudotoPennyandwherearemyfriendsyoubigidiot?!Iswearifyou didanythingtothemI'lltakeawayallyoursciencethingys!"

Tygan took a step back from the verbal onslaught. He gave a look that pleaded for help and Bradford rolled his eyes. Just how many people did Richard piss off?

Meanwhile, as Ruby went on, she felt a hand wrap around her collar and dragged off of Tygan.

"Hey!" She threw her arms up in the air and struggled against the grip while still spewing a rapid tidal wave of words that no one understood save for her.

John held his free hand up to his forehead and let out a frustrated sigh. He already had to deal with the threat of being shot down daily as well as the antics of the Avenger's crew. Hopefully Ruby would calm down…

"Tygan, what's going on?"

"As you already know, I was a part of the invasion of Remnant and I assisted in several projects including the extraction of a data chip from one known as 'Penny'."

"You mean the chip that you took when you fled ADVENT?" Bradford asked. He felt Ruby stop struggling and a quick glance showed that she was staring intently at Tygan. He surmised that she may be related to the bot in some way.

"Yes and the one you're holding at bay attempted to stop the procedure, but was knocked out by one of the alien's Psi Operatives. I then pull the chip out with assistance from engineers as experienced personnel were too far away to get there in time. After hearing that there was a capable resistance movement, I stole the chip before the information was transferred and fled. I fear though that I may have been too late as I overheard there were plans to create a new type of MEC using data from Remnant."

"I have a feeling that you're not repeating this for my shake."

"Correct, Bradford."

"You can bring back Penny?"

Both Tygan and John looked at the Huntress in training who had a hope in her eyes. However, they knew it wasn't possible.

"In theory, yes, but we simply do not have the resources to build and the Commander has determined that it is not a venture worth pursuing," Tygan explained.

"Oh," Ruby said in a small voice before perking up," well I can help! After all I built my sweetheart, Crescent Rose, which I still can't find, and I think I can build something for Penny?"

Tygan kept a neutral expression while Bradford was trying to figure out how quickly she did a one-eighty degree personality turn.

"Crescent Rose, I assume it is your weapon?"

"Yep!"

"It was disassembled."

Ruby had a frozen smile like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What?"

"And the parts sent to various facilities to be studied. I am sorry for your… loss. From what my friends told me it was quite a complex design able to shift between a sniper and a scythe which must have taken a lot of time."

The corner of Ruby's lips and eyebrows were twitching. Tygan smiled faintly.

"Then melted down for scrap."

Bradford released his grip and slowly moved away before Ruby let out a explosive,"WHAT?!"

"Well, I'll see her in a little bit to remove the chip, if there is one, and in the meantime you can show her around the ship John," Tygan said and walked away.

""NOOOOO!" Ruby yelled and slid down onto her legs."My baby, how could they?!"

"I think you're being dramatic Ruby, it's just a weap-"

She shot up faster than Usain Bolt and was in John's face shoving a finger into it.

"I built Cresent Rose with my own hands! It took _forever_ to find the right materials, get the right portions, and get it working! It's not simply a weapon, it's _my weapon_!"

"Better than being melted down into a pile of green goo."

Ruby took a step back, both confused and horrified at what he was implying.

"Are you saying that…"

"A few weeks ago we raided a hidden facility that was doing something to people in capsules, melting them down. Despite our efforts at getting them out, all we could get was a vial before ADVENT swarmed the site. Though the damage done shut it down and set back the 'Avatar Project' which we discovered a week after. We're were on our way to another one to destroy it, but the local resistance managed to disable a supply convoy and we pounced on the opportunity. That was where Spartan 1-7 found you."

Ruby's growing fear skyrocketed. The girls… no. No, she couldn't think like that, they'll be out there! In the meantime, with her weapon gone she supposed a replacement was in order as much as she hated it.

"Uh, can I borrow some materials to build another weapon?"

"No, as previously mentioned we low on resources but we do have a motto, you kill it, you brought it. Besides, new recruits are given weapons, though I doubt you'll see combat because of your age."

"Well, I suppose that's fair, and what is XCOM?" Ruby asked.

John grinned," We are XCOM, or Extraterrestrial Combat. We first served as Earth's defenders against the aliens in the invasion. Things went well in the beginning before our funding got cut, but that didn't stop us. We fought on even when others surrendered dealing damage to the newly formed ADVENT Coalition. In the end, though, XCOM was outmatched, outgunned, and outnumbered and when they found our old base, they eliminated it along with most of the original membership. I and a few others managed to escape because Shen built a escape hatch. The Commander opted to stay behind to direct the defense and that was the last time I heard of him till nearly two months ago when some informants tipped us off. Since then we've been forced underground, but we're doing something.

We've been making strides against ADVENT ever since. VIPs, allied or enemy, were extracted, important operations setback, facilities damaged heavily, and we're building a resistance to get the aliens off our planet. However, for the last hundred years they've been busy. When the news first said ADVENT had gone to war against another planet because of their actions, a lot of people brushed it off as nothing more than propaganda till they actually brought people over to colonize the world after completely wiping out the military and moving the survivors to who knows where. They're also not afraid of adopting their enemies' tech for their own use.

The aliens will also use the conquered species as soldiers and attempt to win hearts and minds."

"How can you win hearts and minds when they're inside you?"

"It's a tactic used to win the people you just beat over, showing you're not some heartless monster. However, some rebels speculate this is just a show for us, Earth's humans, since there's a lot of evidence to suggest that before us, the Elders, leaders of the alien forces, would just beat their foes into submission then absorb the entirety into their ranks, and move on. I honestly don't know why they're doing that though."

"Are they are doing the same to Remnant?" Ruby asked, fearful of what was happening to her home.

"As far as we know, yes."

Ruby sighed in relief.

"But."

Of course there was more! Why did she have to jinx it?!

"The aliens are showing a little more restraint. I don't know if it's because you're the first very human-like species we've came across or it's related to the Avatar project, but normally ADVENT goes in bombing everything before sending ground troops to clean up the mess. This time they're sending in the forces to lock down it down."

"They did shell us though!"

Bradford raised a eyebrow and said,"I wouldn't put it past them if they were lying about the events, but that isn't a concern as of now. The Commander has already deemed you too important of a asset to the alien operations and to us to just drop you off at a refugee camp so you'll be staying on the Avenger and as Central Officer I'm supposed to help get the noobies settled in. So, welcome to the Avenger," Bradford said the last line with practiced wording. How many times had he said that line?

"SO, when does the tour begin?"

"Now."

Bradford placed his hands behind his back and walked towards a door built into a raised square. Ruby eagerly trailed behind him, excited to see the tech they had.

"The Avenger is a converted alien supply barge. Shen and his daughter found it half buried in the ground and after a bit of fixing, they got it working again. We still needed a generator to get it flying though, but before we could Raymond Shen passed away,"John said saddly. The tone had it like that a old and great friend had died.

"But Shen's daughter, Lily, is no less capable. We also had Vahlen though she disappeared and Tygan replaced her as Science Head. Richard is one of the brightest minds on the planet so having him on our side is a great boon despite the distrust. His defections has also yielded some insight to what the aliens are doing, but we're still in the dark of their latest operations."

When they neared the door, it hissed open and upon entering it, Ruby was met with a regular corridor one might find on a ship. It was none too impressive, but she still had yet to explore the ship.

"We're about to enter the armory and hanger," Bradford said as they walked down the hall to another door which slid open to glorious rack upon rack of weapons. There was of course armor and other items, but weapons!

Ruby bounced with excitement. There were odd, boxy ones all colored and patterned strangely like a purple heart shaped one leaning against the wall. Then there were swords, just regular classic swords though she did saw a red bladed one.

Among the weapons were pineapple-shaped objects, cylinder ones, and vests of armor along with many other military items.

"Sharing the enthusiasm that our troops do?" Bradford smiled," Our troops love this place, aside from the rec and bar rooms, they visit this place daily. The armory contains all of XCOM's existing weapons, armor, and utilities unless they're being developed. I'm going through the list of categories so listen up."

Ruby reined in her excitement and stood at attention ready to soak in every detail, more or less about the weapons to which Bradford was going to abuse.

"First up is utilities," Bradford said and saw a slight dim in Ruby's posture," such items are useful in the field such as flashbangs. Flashbangs are _extremely_ helpful as it disrupts a person's normal ability and against the alien's bullshit Psionics.

Frag grenades are your typical explosive ordnance. Pull the pin, toss it, and boom. Useful in a pitch, especially against armored units which shreds their armor while taking away cover. Vehicles and certain gas containers can make for improvise explosives. Though the enemy also does the same.

Medkits heal up any wounds, stabilize, cure, and keep a person going. Besides that, nothing else. Smoke grenades also provide some level of defense, but our troops despise it because it can't make or clean a mess making it mostly useless.

Gremlins are versatile, robotic companions exclusive to engineers and Specialists.

There's different ammo types and equipment as well, generated from any cores our operatives recover from the field. However, they're strictly for that person who first got it and rulebreakers suffer shit patrol for a week."

"What's a shit patrol?" Ruby asked.

"You have to clean the restrooms, both of them. Anyways, the next one is armor," Bradford continued," and it is a vital part of surviving the battle. While we have relaxed our rules on uniform, we still have a code. Yes, you can make your armor as colorful as you want, but make it too bright or add any ridiculous additions or change another person's armor without permission, especially if one makes a rookie's one to red, they have to deal with helping the engineers 'test' new armors, namely strapping a suit on and standing still while they fire blanks.

There's also nanovests that provide some extra protections. Since it prevents a operative from suffering injuries and holes they have taken to call it… the Hole Protection," John rolled his eyes at how creative the troops can be when it came to sexual innuendos," and then there's the E.X.O. suit that adds another heavy weapon. Grenadiers and Rangers love it since it not only adds armor, but allows them to carry more without taking away that punch. Finally the Spider armor which adds a grapple. Sharpshooters love the hell out of it.

Then finally, weapons," the Central Officer saw Ruby smile brightly," which there are a few. We used to have just basic ballistic firearms. Worked fine against regular ADVENT till they started deploying heavier, more hard hitting units about a month back. Since then we've utilized magnetic projectiles mostly scavenged from dead troopers."

"Oh, like this one?" Ruby pulled out the rifle she had obtained earlier and showed it to him.

"Yes, the weapons they have use a organic sig and after Tygan and Shen cracked it, we've started to remove that to allow another soldier to use it when the previous owner is incapacitated. We give the rifles to rookies, Specialists, or Rangers, the last being able to use both a blade for melee and a shotgun.

Heavy cannons and grenade launchers are the primary tools used by Generators. Snipers and pistols are given to the Sharpshooters.

Psi Operatives have a pick of any except for Gremlins and launchers. Now we move on to the hanger," Bradford said as he walked into the hanger. Ruby returned the rifle to her back.

"Question! Two actually, how come Rangers are the only ones able to use swords and what's a Psi Operative?"

"Rangers are both our scout and assault class so they need to take down targets silently and quickly. The rest are equipped with a knife for the close range encounter, but we strongly advise not charging blindly into battle unless you want to face a MEC's kinetic strike. Psi Operative use Psionic energy for a variety of uses. Going into that topic would require a lecture, but in short they use their minds."

"They use their minds?" Ruby scratched her head in confusion. Did Bradford mean they were super smart?

"Confusing topic, I know, but Tygan can properly explain it to you. Anyways, this is the hanger," Bradford held out a arm to show the section storing the Skyranger that was now resting. A tattered flag featuring a diamond with a crossed X and three stars hung proudly above it.

People milled about, idly chatting or tapping away on console scattered throughout the room. There was also loud music playing nearby.

" _We're no strangers to love!"_

"What's playing?" Ruby asked as Bradford put a hand to his forehead.

"You've been Rick Rolled!" Someone yelled and a wave of groans and chuckles followed.

"Ruby, did Firebrand give you a walkie talkie?"

"I knew it! She said it was… _Shit vobis_ I think? But I knew all along it was a walkie talkie!"

"Firebrand has just stooped to a new low. Do you have any idea what that means?"

"No."

"It translates to shit you say. Firebrand does this all the time to gullible rookies and embresses them while they stroll around our ship. I'm going to talk to her as soon as this is over, but I'll have it now."

Ruby nodded and pulled out the radio giving it to John. He then proceeded flip a switch shutting off the music. He resumed the tour shortly after.

"The hanger is where the Skyranger is stored and when something pops up, Firebrand is the one to transport them to the AO, or Area of Operation, to begin the op. She's one of the best pilots on Earth, despite her quirks, and is deeply respected among the troops because of her oddities. This is also where we stored most of our supplies and if anyone is caught stealing rations, they have to help Firebrand maintain the Skyranger for a month. She has a high standard for cleanness and not meeting that results in her pranking you for a week. Harmless things though and helps keep morale up surprisingly.

Now we head to the Command."

Bradford led Ruby back through the armory and up a flight of stairs into yet another room. She let out a small gasp upon seeing a hologram of what she presumed to be Earth rotating in the middle. Around it were various panels, devices, and people checking them. Some were munching on snacks while they worked and others were exchanging gossip.

"This is the Command Center, the nerve of all Operations, situations, etc erica. We keep a eye on what ADVENT is doing and I think now is a good time of any to introduce you to them."

Before he could explain though, the room was suddenly filled in a crimson light and a loud, annoying blare interrupted work.

" _Warning, unauthorized presence detected,"_ a female voice said stoically.

"Hang on, execute Omega Protocol."

The light in the room returned to normal and everyone returned to their work.

"Ugh, I keep forgetting to do that when new recruits pop in, but that was the resident A.I., but onto ADVENT. They're a global government and controls almost everything. Media, industry, and military. However, there are people who refuse to believe in them and are fighting for our world."

"So, the ADVENT are the bad guys!"

"Yes, and as you might know they've begun invading other worlds. The first one involved a tribal blue skinned race. Any resistance was crushed, their survivors forced elsewhere, and the world claimed by the aliens as well as us. Unfortunately most people thought what the Prop Heads spewed out was true. That was fifty years ago. Now they have control of at least a dozen planets and have used the population for numerous means be it labor, research, or military. Many times it's some tribal or medieval era species and people see it as beneficial to them when they're 'uplifted'," Bradford made air quotes putting emphasis on the last word," and most recently, your planet. Granted, ADVENT is receiving some flak for harming minors, but nothing serious."

"And people just believe them?!"

"When you have the cure to cancer and a end to hunger, a lot of people are willing to do or listen to anything. I wish things were much simpler, but that's the way it is. Science is up next."

The two went on into another section of the Avenger and Ruby saw a large, cylinder device emitting a green glow. More panels and devices were situated around the lab with objects one might find in a research facility or hospital like test tubes, microscopes, crystals, blood, and corpses. Ok, perhaps this was more like a morgue-lab hybrid.

Tygan was also disassembling a giant, white robot. It looked like the little brother of a Paladin RWBY fought before the aliens showed up. However, there were differences such as its three fingers and parallelogram-like head.

Tygan was also wearing a facemask to protect him from the sparks that flew as he sliced through the metal. Two others were assisting him. A white man with black hair and a mustache combined with cold blue eyes. The other was a tannish male and graying brown hair.

"Edward, Isaac, your presence is no longer required. However, Isaac, take what we disassembled so far to Shen and have her send a report when she's able to," Tygan said as he flipped his mask over his bald head.

The both of them nodded and walked away. Bradford then began his introduction for the lab.

"This is Research Division. Our scientists aren't many, but we've been making do and since most used to work for ADVENT, they've been able to pool together their knowledge to reverse-engineer the tech we took. Nothing much of interest if you are not looking to be a part of staff here."

"Ah, Bradford, Ruby," Tygan said from behind the robot," I am done here and ready to see if Ruby has a chip."

"Um, why would there be a chip in my head?" Ruby asked.

"The aliens have implanted chips into a person's head for various uses. For the Commander, it was to run tactical simulations or war games. For me, it was meant to keep me under control and that went for just about any civilian. For the ADVENT soldier, though, it is to receive and give out orders via a Psionic link. We have extracted chips from alien cadavers, but their function is still unknown as we have yet to break the cipher they use to encrypt any data stored. The most recent one, the one from Remnant, was meant to act as a mind control and to receive information. After Edward performed a field surgery which was dangerous in of itself, the link was severed, but there was significant blood loss leading to hypovolemic shock and a coma. However, the subject received medical treatment almost immediately and should be able to awake within the week."

"Can I see her? She maybe someone I know!"

"After I remove your own chip, should you have one."

Ruby glanced nervously between Bradford and Tygan. She still didn't trust the doctor after what he did.

"Perhaps seeing your friend that would ease your mind," Tygan said apparently noticing her unease. With that, he grabbed a tablet from a nearby table and poked at it. Shortly after, a click was heard.

Tygan then headed to a rectangular wedge in the very back and Ruby followed him. He grabbed ahold of the handle, opening it and to her delight and horror was Penny's head still in stuck in her final moments. Her head rested on a shelf below Tygan's chin along with many other items.

"The aliens were specifically after the strategic data stored inside her, not personality. I recovered what I could, but Shen's damage report found the body irreparable. The chips are safe and any information on them could be used to rebuild Penny, if we get the resources necessary."

Next thing Bradford knew there was more rose petals flying about. The first time he could have excused it, but now it was inside and considering Ruby's last name was Rose he wouldn't find it hard to believe every time she seemingly teleported like now the petals appeared.

And Ruby, instead of being up in Tygan's face, had fixed her arms firmly around him rapidly saying thank you.

"Please get off," Richard said.

John once again had to pry her off by latching onto her collar and pulling the hyper-active child off.

"Hey! Let go!"

"Do you promise not to stop teleporting all over the place?"

"I don't teleport! I use my Semblance!"

"Your what now?"

"Semblance, you know-" Ruby then facepalmed," I'm on a alien planet. I don't teleport, I'm just really, really fast!"

"Like a chipmunk on caffeine."

"Yeah, like a chipmunk on caffeine."

"And how would you know what a chipmunk is?" Tygan asked, raising a eyebrow.

"Those little, adorable animals with puffy cheeks like this," Ruby puffed up her cheeks in a attempt to imitate one.

"I think Earth and Remnant may have more in common than what we thought, but we are wasting time so let us remove Ruby's chip," Tygan said as he closed the door and walked over to a table near the robot.

"Uh, this isn't going to hurt is it?" Ruby asked as Tygan pulled out a drawer and began grabbing a few items such as a pill bottle and a oval-shaped device similar to the one he used on Penny.

"It will sting, but the painkillers will reduce it greatly. Still, Bradford, I do require you to hold her head to prevent sudden movement," Tygan then muttered," if only there was a actual surgeon onboard."

"You sure about this Richard? I mean, she is technically a extraterrestrial and the meds could have a harmful effect," Bradford said, concerned evident in his voice.

"I assure you John, Remnant's human population has a one hundred percent genetic similarity which eliminates certain risk factors. The only way I can see if harm come to her is if she is allergic to mass produced painkillers which is almost zero because of ADVENT's tech."

"Alright, how do you want me to do it?"

"Once she sits on the table, hold her temple firmly while I make the incisions."

Ruby was anxious about this as she climbed up onto the table and Tygan gave her a black pill. He briefly ran over how to take it which was nothing more than swallowing it without water or food so she threw it into her mouth and gulped it down. It didn't have a taste of any kind, but she could feel the pill go down her throat.

Bradford then placed his hands on Ruby's head and he had a concerned look. Before she could ask why, a zapping sound came from behind her as the drug began to take effect. Her body started to go numb and woozy followed by a fingers moving her red-black hair about occasionally pressing against the back of her skull.

"Found it," Tygan said, pushing down on what felt like a oddly shaped bump.

A harsh sting followed causing Ruby's head to jerk slightly, but held in place by Bradford's tightening hands and then she felt cold steel slowly and carefully slice through skin then bone.

"Exactly like the last ones, preparing for final incision."

Something akin to a pair of tweezers worked their way into Ruby's brain and it felt horrible. There was little pain, but the feeling of having a foreign object invade her head made Ruby nauseous. Then she could feel the tweezers closed together on what she presumed to be the chip and _pulled._

"Ouch!" Ruby cried as Tygan forcibly ripped it out.

"The operation went smoothly, I'm getting better at this," Tygan mused," and don't touch the wound unless you want to feel your brain. Now, I am going to have to dress the opening to ensure there's no infection."

"Oww, that really hurts," Ruby groaned.

"I had to pull out mine without the use of anaesthetic, or medicine that numbs the pain, and a mirror which left me with a gruesome scar. You're lucky that the wound will leave none."

Ruby's eyes widen while John released his grip and walked backwards.

Tygan had to get rid of his through pain and no guidance? He could be lying, but Dust, that would be horrific.

"And you also didn't get knocked out. Even the Commander was out for a time," Bradford crossed his arms.

"Hold still while I clean and patch the wound," Tygan ordered.

Ruby held as still as possible as a cool cream was pressed round the cut followed by a swath of thick cloth.

"Thanks," Ruby said.

"There were benefits in removing the device, namely preventing the aliens from tracing it once I properly shield it. Now John, you can finish up the tour."

"Of course, come on Ruby next up is engineering," he said as he began heading off towards a descending flight of stairs. Ruby, still affected by the painkillers, got up and stumbled after him.

When they arrived in the Engineering section, Ruby's excitement rose up again though not as much as being in the armory. In here, many gadgets hummed, beeped, and flickered while people checked them. She could smell grease, heat,... and sweat in the air.

There were also flying robot with four horizontal panels enveloped in a blue hue and two red 'eyes', They were a little larger than a person's head and they were assisting a raven haired, sleeveless woman working on one.

"This is Engineering, where all of XCOM's weapons, armor, and various other items are built. Experimental stuff and certain projects though is confined to the Proving Grounds to prevent accidents. Soldiers tend to gather here waiting for their 'presents' to get done once they donated their elerium cores. Lily heads this Division and don't waste her time unless you can a ear full. She views idle moments to only be nothing of use and never takes a break even when she's sick. Been that way ever since Ray died."

"Ray?"

"Her father. His death was hard on a lot of people, but she was the hardest and now Lily has a vendetta against the aliens."

"Oh," Ruby said. Lily was like her, except it was her mother, Summer Rose, that had died, but where was Lily's mother?"What happened to her mother then?"

"Don't know, she disappeared after ADVENT was formed and on one heard from her since. We've all assumed she died somewhere."

"Wow, that must be tough."

"Tough?" The woman working on one of the robots waved her wrench in the air,"It's not tough, it's a nightmare. Now can you quit talking about my parents and let me work?!"

"Sorry Lily, but anyways that's our Chief Engineer, Shen. Just like Science, there's nothing else here unless you want to be a engineer. We now head to the Advanced Warfare Center where our troops get patched up, Gene Mods, or for psychiatric evaluation and counseling to visit your other friend. Then we'll meet the Commander who is probably going through his stash of magazines. Come on."

Ruby tilted her head. What was wrong with reading magazines? Bradford said it in a such a tone that he made it sound like he hated it. Yet again she could never get why people had to dress fancy for parties.

Whatever the reason, she followed Bradford as he walked back up into the Science Division and up some stairs leading into a polished white medical area. The smell of blood, infection, gauze, and other hospital scents hugged the air thickly.

The pained moans and groans of the wounded haunted it as well while laughter broke through it. People had all sorts of emotions here.

Anger, sadness, grief, happiness, relief, and hope mingled as friends of the injured tried cheering them up or hung their heads. A few in white clothing tended to them as well.

"This is the AWC, and no one is here for Gene Mods or evaluation, surprisingly. Just here for their buds. Anyways, the bunny girl is under armed guard so it shouldn't be difficult to find her."

"Velvet!" Ruby cried in relief upon immediately spotting the rabbit Fanus. She had ignored Bradford in favor of looking for the person and was rewarded with Velvet in a olive green uniform like that of the other XCOM staff currently in medical care. Two heavily armed guards stood on either side, though they weren't paying attention. One was conversing with a female nurse while the other was furiously poking at a tablet.

However, Ruby's cry attracted the attention of the nearby personnel who shot weary looks.

"Calm down people, she's not under mind control," Bradford said, outstretching both of his hands," and Ruby, don't yell. Some are trying to sleep."

"Sorry," Ruby said in a small voice," I'm just glad one of my friends are fine."

"Not exactly," a woman said as she stepped to the right of Bradford," the field surgery performed by Richtofen was messy and bloody. It was pure luck that he didn't damage the occipital lobe or another important cranial part, but I am just glad I don't have another dead patient unlike many others."

"Ah, Ruby, this is the head medical officer Sherry, former Gene Clinic overseer," Bradford introduced the gray haired female.

"Left once I saw… things. I contacted the local resistance who tried pulling me out, but were unable to and likely XCOM was in the region at the time. I'm the oldest serving non-combatant nurse on the Avenger which is only three months. Still, I have a Bachelor's degree in nursing and a varied understanding of the human anatomy. Also, these idiots suffer more injuries because of their stupid shenanigans than out in the fighting."

"What were these things you saw?" Ruby asked. She regretted it when Bradford shot a look that told her that she shouldn't have done that, but Sherry went on anyway.

"Human and alien bodies," Sherry closed her eyes,"being liquified or mechanical implants. I assisted in quite a few experiments four months ago on Remnant, when the invasion first began. After that, I knew it was high time to get out," she then opened them.

"What are they doing on Remnant?" Ruby choked out.

"They retreated once they secured numerous 'specimens', but maintain a strong presence there and constantly launch operations to cause destruction and panic. As for experiment, nothing as horrific as on Earth. Mainly they performed tests and I helped out in providing information about physical attributes. We're well aware of your aura and I feared the Elders may have saw the potential applications. Now my fear has been realized when Jackal team faced your friend, Velvet. I'm sorry for your girlfriend."

"Thanks and she's not my girlfriend," Ruby protested.

"Well, she's a girl and she's your friend, is she not?"

It took a moment for Ruby to realize the joke.

"Oh, thanks for trying to cheer me up!"

"Don't thank me, after all, laughter is the best of medicine or so the old saying goes. Now, excuse me I have to make sure my underlings don't mess up-" She stopped and shot a glare past Ruby," CHARLES YOU FUCKING IDIOT! TED HAS A FLU! FLUS ARE VIRUSES NOT BACTERIA!"

Sherry stormed off rambling off about the differences between a virus and a bacterium at a poor, brown haired man who cowered before the medical officer's wrath.

"She's nice, but scary," Ruby said.

"Sherry's a good part of the team, keeps the crew on their toes and beats down any rulebreakers while still being nice when she's not mad earning her the nickname 'Mama Bear'. Anyways, let us go see your buddy," Bradford smiled and directed Ruby through the AWC to Velvet.

Upon arriving, Ruby saw the Fanus sleeping peacefully in bed, but hooked up to multiple machines and monitors of which she didn't understand. A breathing mask was also over her mouth becoming fogged with every breath. The two guards were also quick to snap to attention, speedily saluting Central. The woman was quick to leave, though.

"At ease, Ruby's just here to see a friend."

"So this is the Xeno that Spartan brought back. Doesn't look like much sir if you're sending this one into battle," The guard with the tablet said.

"Hey!"

"I gotta agree, she's a halfpint sir."

"I'm perfecting capable of whipping butt!"

"The Commander had already decided not to send her into battle and I told her that. We're just trying to settle this one in."

"I'm here ya know!"

"Alright sir, just keep the Xeno away from the armory and we'll be ok!"

"Well, she is kinda cute… I say we throw her at the aliens and see what happens."

Bradford and the guard that was talking with the girl both stared intensely at the tablet wielding one.

"Ted, we know you're a confirmed Xenophile looking for excuse to bed a alien, dead or alive," the guard said.

"Uhh, I have no clue what you're talking about…"

"I certainly hope you're not implying what I think," Bradford glared.

Ted looked at two soon to be angry men and a Xeno human girl looking confused. He should get out before she came to the realization of what they were talking about.

"I'll leave now."

"Yes you should, fucking animal," the guard growled.

"You're one too!" Ted grumbled as he walked away.

"Whaat?" Ruby was both dumbfounded and disgusted." Where did you find that guy?"

"As a resistance force we don't discriminate between recruits which has led us to some… unsavory types, but most are former law-bidding civs or honorable soldiers. They keep people like him under control and if anything comes to the surface about their activities the Commander takes swift action. Not sure what he does, but after the punishment they're so horrified there's no more rule breaking from them," Bradford explained," and no, he hasn't done… things to Velvet. We're keeping trusted eyes on her at all times."

"Well, I know I said this like a dozen times already, but thanks, again."

"Doing anything we can to hit ADVENT where it hurts even if that does mean taking a risk bringing and caring for both of you in the Avenger. Now, I'll give you a moment before we head off to meet the Commander."

Ruby nodded and stood near Velvet. While they weren't exactly friends, they did like each other, but Ruby would have one of the other girls here instead of bearing the burden of not knowing what happened to them. It was still nice though to see a familiar face.

"Maybe ya should try talking to her, heard it helps with the coma. Not sure how it works though," the guard said before the girl from earlier came back. He immediately started talking with her again, something about meeting in the bar later.

While she didn't know if it would help Velvet, it might help herself just like conversing with her passed mother.

"Hi Velvet, it's Ruby. I don't know if you can hear me since you're in la la land, but I just wanted tell you that you're safe. I'm not sure where the rest of you team is and I don't have much of a idea of what's going on, but there's some really awesome people helping me out. They're called XCOM, they have this really cool airship called the Avenger and flying robots and they're going to kick the bad guy's butts."

Bradford smiled saddly. If only that last part was true. Still, XCOM has been making progress… just that progress was paid in blood and memories.

"And I first met them out in a forest. There was Johnson, and some twitchy woman he kept calling Greenhorn. While they didn't promise to help find our friends, they said they would try and I really hope we do find them. I hope you have sweet dreams!"

"Geez, if I didn't know any better I would say you were fangirling. What would happen if a Xeno becomes a fan of XCOM? What do we call ourselves then? Xeno COM? XCOM? Wait, that last one is still the same. I give up!" The guard said and went back to the woman.

"Alright, we can go meet the Commander now. Will, any idea where he might be?" Bradford asked the guard.

"Oh, here he was not too long ago, said he would be in the Command trying to connect Denmother."

"Thanks, let's head on over and meet the person responsible for our stream of victories."

Bradford led Ruby out of the AWC as she pondered who this man was. Would he be like Ironwood? Easy-going and humorous yet cautious and tactical thinker? Or Ozpin? Calm, cool, and collected with a coffee mug never out of his reach?

She dreaded to think he could be like Goodwitch.

However, when they entered the Command Center again, she didn't see anyone noticeable. A few new faces, but nothing spectacular unless one counted a constant, smiling clone creeping her out.

"Shepard, perhaps you should allow one of the techs to help out," Bradford said as he walked towards a middle aged man with a red buzz cut. His back was turned to them as he arbitrary pressed buttons on a panel with a screen.

"I can figure this out John," he said.

"Well sir, it could take a while."

"I got this."

Bradford and Ruby let Shepard try to figure out the console, but after a couple of minutes, Central took a step and tapped a red button. Shortly after, the same symbol from the flag in the hanger fuzzed to life.

"Ok, reminder to shelf, press red button," Shepard muttered to himself," Thanks."

"You're welcome Commander, and the abductee that Spartan team picked up is here."

Shepard turned around and Ruby could see his blue eyes filled with both warmth and coldness. Scars adorned his face and a stripe of hair above his forehead had refused to grow. A smile was there as well.

"You must be Ruby that Johnson told me about, I am Commander Shepard, leader of XCOM and the resistance," he placed his hands behind his back.

"That I am, Ruby Rose!"

"Sorry about your world and being on a foreign world with no idea of what's going on."

"It's ok, but you can find my friends right?"

Shepard's smile disappeared.

"Yes and no. No as in we require intel to about their status. We don't have the resources to go on a wild goose chase, but we do have people inside ADVENT working to find missing people important to the resistance, one such person has considerable influence and could help us. Remember though, we're not doing this from the kindness in our hearts, but we are facing a common enemy."

Ruby understood, even if she didn't like the part where they weren't doing it out of kindness. Some people expected a reward because of it. This time though, they were doing it because they did have the same foe.

"Commander, Denmother is online!" One of the other people said.

"Put her on."

The screen changed from the symbol to a black haired woman wearing a beanie and in the background was a rundown village.

"Ah, so you're the Commander that has been keeping ADVENT quiet lately," she said, tilting her head slightly to the right.

"Yes, and you must be Denmother, founder of the New Mexico refugee camp _Freedom Creek._ "

"It appears Brad told you of me, I'm honored he remembered."

"Don't forget that I helped you," Bradford pointed a finger accusingly at her.

The woman laughed and said,"well, things have gone well. ADVENT's been quiet and we've been able to get around easier. I think they're hiding hoping the big bad XCOM goes away."

"Well, enjoy it while it lasts."

"We plan to, our water purification system-"

The screen started to become statically and Denmother's voice was muffled causing concerned looks. Ruby assumed it could be a bad signal until one of the techs said,"Massive signal coming from the ADVENT Network Tower. It's global… sirs I think you want to see this!"

All eyes turned to the screen which had changed to a man in a black suit behind a podium and two caped soldiers stood behind him, hands crossed behind their backs. A flow of information was placed on the bottom of the screen detailing the latest news. The man wore black shades as well and was human yet he seemed off.

" _Are those reptilian eyes?"_ Ruby thought when she peered through the shades.

" _Fellow citizens,"_ the man said," _for the last one hundred years, the ADVENT coalition has worked tirelessly to repair the ravages and injustices of the old world. Under our stewardship, our people prosper and our world heals. The Elders, ever patient and rewarding, have given us so much."_

The man's cheery tone was off putting. How could he talk about this when people were still suffering?!

Both Shepard and Bradford rolled their eyes at the lies he was telling.

Then the tone changed into a slowly rising, controlled anger.

" _And yet among us there are those who refuse to acknowledge the truth! Who are determined to see all that of which we have achieved crumble!"_

A beep alerted them to the Holo-globe and Ruby saw three, red dots descending upon the bottom of a continent that read New Mexico.

" _Warning, multiple contacts on approach to Haven Alpha-Two."_

" _That must end. Even as I speak, ADVENT peackeepers are advancing to the outlying territories-"_

"You got incoming ADVENT Denmother!" Bradford yelled as the image flickered back to her temporarily.

"Your signal's breaking up!"

" _-to end this scourge once and for all!"_

"THEY'RE RIGHT ON TOP OF YOU!"

Ruby didn't understand what was going on. End what scourge? They were just refugees?! Just what was happening?

"Losing you Avenger!"

The signal was then lost, going back to the man and back again.

"Raise them again!"

The man's voice changed to a comforting tone.

" _We will ensure your continued safety and well-being throughout this crisis."_

The screen finally stayed on Denmother albeit still staticy.

"GET YOUR PEOPLE OUT OF THERE!" Bradford yelled as Denmother looked away, gasping in shock. Not seconds after, the screen went yellow as the scene fell sideways.

Ruby took a step back in horror as she saw people running and screaming in panic. Gunfire rained down upon them as explosions shook the screen. It was like Amity Colosseum all over again except this time it was by people who had power.

" _With your corporation, we will overcome these radical elements and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity, one freed from hate and lies."_

The man's voice did nothing, but fuel Ruby's growing anger. How could they attack innocent people?!

As people ran, three black clad figures dropped onto the scene and rushed off, but gunfire made it clear. They weren't going to leave survivors or take prisoners.

"Where's my gun?" Shepard growled.

 **A/N: So this chapter was just really a introduction to the situation of what's going on though at the end things did heat up quickly. Also, Mass Effect's biggest badass is leading XCOM!**

 **Sorry if he appears OOC, I haven't played Mass Effect, but I am well aware of his abilities and as seeing Firaxis has taken some inspiration from the ME series might as well throw him there. One last thing, he's the second main character. What, thought this was going to be solely about team RWBY? Too bad!**

 **There's Crescent Rose as well. Don't worry, Ruby will be reunited with her baby. However, I did want to see if it can't be upgraded with alien alloys. Tygan also lied about it being melted down, little troll. Or maybe I am since I'm writing this…**

 **As for Ted, he's a redshirt I'm planning on keeping in the background so don't worry. Plus he's the designated buttmonkey.**

 **Also, a guest throw a hateful comment because I stated I'm Muslim. Ended up deleting it, but this is to the guest. I ask you, stop as you just making yourself look dumb. I understand, there's some radicals who are hateful, but don't become like them. After all, he who fights monsters should ensure that he does not become the monster. This also goes for anyone who is going to post such comments. Though if you use your own profile I'm gonna sic the report button on you! :D**

 **This chapter is being updated sooner than later because of school. I have to focus on that first and get caught up so it might be a while before I update this again.**

 **Now time for reviews!**

 **Firem78910:**

 **Let's hope rebuilding Penny works out then. Yep, she's coming back! Though I have some surprises from ADVENT in store to ensure the sword puppeteer doesn't roll all over them.**

 **Rook435:**

 **I am trying to mimic Halo's Johnson and I think I'm doing well! Thanks for your input! As for Cinder and co, that's going into story spoilers so I'll leave it at that.**

 **Mr Fizz:**

 **The aliens seem more like join us willingly or fight us and still join. However, because this is fanfiction there's some changes to their attitude. Going further might give you a idea of what I'm planning so I am dropping it here!**

 **It would definitely be cool to see a Avatar vs Maiden fight considering how powerful they both are. However, Avatars tend to be on the Mental domination side while Maidens are more on the elemental side… then there's the fact there are more Avatars than Maidens…**

 **As for the coma and brain damage thing, if I recall, the Commander did go into la la land for a bit. How long, I don't know, but after the whole operation we see they're in their quarters with a sheet and Bradford as well. Also, it was a field surgery(not sure if that exists) and was performed by Call of Duty's zombie origins Richtofen. Yep, the insane nazi doctor is in this story as a minor character and he still retains some of his insanity.**

 **Avther:**

 **Yea, seeing the final changed my plans and with a character reveal plus death(?), that adds so many new things I can toy around with! Though, what happened with Ruby… I still have to figure out how to implement that into the story as it might prove useful.**

 **As for Grimm, I have no idea! \\(0_0)/**

 **luhar1997:**

 **Thanks! Anyways, the aliens apparently offered the cure to cancer. It wouldn't be far fetched if they also offered some kind of life extending gene mod which Bradford and others got a hold of. It's also mentioned that the Commander still looked the same despite twenty years of being suspended in juice so I guess the aliens also put Shepard in something akin to cryo sleep. Not sure how it works as the game doesn't elaborate on that part.**

 **As for Ruby hearing voices in her head, no it wasn't the Commander leading ADVENT(he did lead them indirectly through via unwanted simulations) and it's related to Psionics.**

 **On that note, I'll be expanding it to make it similar to Aura and Semblance, but it will still have its own personality(hopefully). You'll see in the next chapter what I have in mind, but I am open to suggestions! Just PM them to me.**


	4. Chapter 4: Retaliation

**A/N: Hello everyone! So due to recent flame comments, I've turned on the moderate guest review so I can check them and delete them so people don't have to see them. Thanks for the support for the story as well! Never expected it to do this well so I'll be treating ya all to a fight this chapter which hopefully will be good.**

"Where's my gun?" Shepard growled.

"Commander, you can't be serious! If we lose you-" Bradford started, but a glare from the man informed Central that it would be a better idea to back off.

"People are dying left, right, and center Brad! I am not going to sit here any longer! Now, assemble the best men we have and get them prepped!"

"I want to help too!" Ruby said and quickly found herself under the same glare that could burn through metal, yet she stood her ground. Even if she was a Huntress in training, she refused to let innocents be harmed.

"You'll get yourself killed little girl, and Bradford keep an eye on her, use the Thrower if you must."

And with that, Shepard ran passed Ruby, heading straight for the armory, crewmembers moving out of the way while Bradford started barking names and orders into a mic. He also had two of the intel officers watch over her to ensure that she doesn't try anything. After he was done yelling, his hand rubbed his sore throat as he turned to face Ruby.

"Get her to the AWC and have her sit by her friend. Make sure you have Arc Throwers ready!"

"Yes sir!" They both said, but before they could escort Ruby out, she disappeared leaving behind a trail of rose petals. The crew gasped as she reappeared at the door leading to the armory and once again vanished leaving only roses behind.

"Well, shit," Bradford swore. This wasn't going to end well for him after Shepard would find out.

Meanwhile, Ruby kept using her Semblance, that being her superhuman speed to get past anyone that stood in the way. She knew she was going to get a really bad scolding for this but these people needed help. Yes, she was a fifteen-year-old and yes, she was still in training, but fighting off Grimm and training for combat didn't mean she was some helpless child. Ruby strived to make the world a better place and ADVENT was doing the exact opposite. She remembered some of XCOM's soldiers saying that they were struggling.

They also saved a friend. That was a debt worth repaying.

She managed to get through the hall and the armory. To her surprise, Shepard wasn't there nor anyone else. The others probably didn't match her speed so using what little time there was, Ruby snatched a pistol and headed towards the Skyranger. The Huntress needed to find a place to hide in the dropship, but where?

As soon as Ruby climbed into the cabin, though, she saw Firebrand tapping her foot with arms crossed in front of the cockpit door.

"You want to help huh? Driver's seat, now."

Ruby didn't know why Firebrand was so willing to help now, but she nodded and headed into the driver's seat without a question. The pilot entered shortly after, shutting the door closed behind her and pointed towards the space between the seat and the wheel.

"Curl up and I'll put my legs over you. Not sure if it's going to be comfortable or effective, but it's all I can come up with."

Ruby complied, going onto her hands and knees then crawling into the space before curling up. She used her red cloak to cover herself up as much as possible while Firebrand jumped onto the seat. Shortly after, the tapping of buttons and clicking could be heard. Ruby also felt the woman's legs on her, trying to put as little weight down on her, but she could feel some pressure. Clearly, Firebrand was trying her best to make it as believable as possible.

Not much later, Ruby heard the door slide open and the heavy vibrations told her that it was someone big or was in heavy gear.

"Firebrand, what is that red lump down there?" Shepard's voice made Ruby sweat. She's going to be found out, wasn't she?

"Everyone in?"

A chorus of affirmations and yeses came in response.

"Firebrand!" Shepard repeated himself.

"We're going now!" The woman sheepishly said and Ruby could feel the floor shake as the Skyranger's engines roared to life and the platform rose to the top of the Avenger. Then, it took off.

"That's Ruby isn't it, Firebrand?"

"Uhh, no…" Firebrand hesitated. "It's a stack of roses…"

"That's her isn't it?"

Silence.

Then the pressure was lifted and Ruby felt a hand grasp the edge of her cloak tugging it open. She formed a smile upon seeing Shepard's disappointed frown.

"We're going to have a serious talk when we get back."

"Wait? She's not going back?" The pilot asked, surprised.

"That's because we are running out of time. Now, Ruby, get up and into the cabin. I have to make some changes to the formation plan."

Ruby complied again, and wiggled out of the space. She got up while Shepard moved to the side to allow her a way out of the cockpit and into the cabin where half a dozen pairs of eyes met her.

"Who let the ankle biter join the Diggers?" A man in his late early forties and wearing a pair of shades said. The man was leaning against his leg by using his arm while his other hand held a sniper upwards. A ring of sharp teeth of which Ruby couldn't identify were tied to a red hat.

"That would be Ruby, the 'alien' I brought back," Johnson said. He sat at the furthest end of the cabin, facing a woman with blonde hair that ran down her back like Yang's.

"So we're taking in aliens now, huh? Doesn't matter to me as long as they don't get in my," Another dark skinned man said underneath a bandana wrapped around his lower head.

"Listen up people." Shepard said as he strode into the cabin. "ADVENT is launching an attack on a refugee camp. We head down there, get the civs secured, and take out any hostile we come across. Sniper Wolf, keep an eye on Ruby would you?"

"Of course, Commander." The lady facing Johnson nodded.

"Why does that Sheila get to watch over the ankle biter, but not me?" The man with the teeth on his hat asked.

"Because unlike you Mick, Sniper Wolf isn't half crazy and a hypocrite."

"But she lets emotions get involved!"

"If I remember looking over the audio clips, you just love letting your venom drip into your voice."

Mick said nothing, instead he looked down at his feet, and growled at the woman.

" _This is Firebrand; we are closing in on Haven Alpha Two. I'm seeing a lot of dropships leaving_ Freedom Creek _. Be careful down there guys and gals."_ Firebrand spoke over the internal comms with a concern in her voice.

"Don't worry, we have the Commander. As soon as ADVENT sees him, they'll be running off!" The dark skinned man said, while some sort of shit-eating grin.

" _Just be careful. Sectoids love the hell out of their Psionics so I'm expecting a lot of zombies all over the place."_

"Zombies?" Ruby asked.

"The aliens are somehow able to resurrect the dead and use them against us. Not fun having to

kill the same person twice," Shepard replied.

The surprises just kept on coming.

"

 _Found a spot. It's right next to the camp and a few civs are already near there. I also see FUCKING SPARTANS! Two, Headhunters likely, and they just disappeared into a flaming truck."_

"Oooh, I always wanted to face off against ADVENT's elite troops. I might be able to finally get some info out of them about my daughter's location," the man said, unsheathing a sword from his back.

"Time to shoot some wankers," Mick grinned as he pulled the bolt of his sniper rifle back.

"I may have to switch out my mercury rounds for AP bullets," Sniper Wolf muttered, unclipping a magazine while replacing it with another.

"Time to kick ass and take some names!" Johnson cocked his shotgun.

" _We are at the LZ; Operation Rebels' Anger is a go."_

With that, everyone rose up from their seats as the ramp went down and the harsh stench of sulfur that filled the room made Ruby flinch. There were cries and panicked screams mixed with gunfire and alien shouts coming from the outside, although she couldn't pinpoint exactly where each scream or gunfire came from. She also saw fires brightly burning on top of makeshift buildings and even greater smoke columns darkening the horizon.

"Move!" Shepard commanded his soldiers while throwing down the rappelling rope. The operatives rushed forth, jumping off the ramp and grabbing onto the rope and landing on the sand with a satisfying crunch. Ruby was the last one to disembark, due to safety concerns and all that.

Once out, Ruby could get a better grip of the landscape. It was a desert. Filled with cactuses, low bushes, and blazing heat that drained her of any hydration she already had. She had never been through arid terrain before, it could prove to be an interesting experience. Why anyone lived in such a waterless and hostile place was beyond the young Huntress.

Up ahead was a town of shoddily build. The buildings were constructed out of flimsy metals and wood held together by nails, ropes, and even duct tape. However, it was home to these people and it was under attack.

"Sniper Wolf, Mick, find a vantage point and provide support! Everyone else, with me!" Shepard ordered. The Commander pulled out an assault rifle and ran to a cluster of charred and blown up buildings.

"Challenge ya to a killing match. Whoever gets the least kills has to give up any trophies they've earned thus far," Mick grinned as they followed the others.

Sniper Wolf snorted and mumbled something about most men being inferior soldiers than women. Mick seemed content with that though, saying they were on.

Ruby, however, was going to try her best to help out even if she was without her baby. She did feel naked without it, but that wasn't going to stop her!

As they neared the fight, the snipers searched for higher ground. Ruby thought the radio tower at the edge of the area of operations could give them coverage over the entire town. She told the other two about it, they nodded in agreement and the trio headed towards it passing by panicking civilians or lightly armed allies that were directing said civilians to a safer location.

Ruby and her allies got to the tower without any incident. She climbed a rickety ladder that squeaked under her weight. Ruby worried that it might break but it held. When she got to the top, the Huntress sighed in relief at finally having a solid surface for her boots. The others climbed onto the top not too long after.

Not even speaking a word, the two snipers took positions adjacent to each other. Ruby stood in a corner and lifted her pistol as she began seeking targets. However, a chuckle from her right, where Mick was, interrupted her.

"Let the professionals handle this," he said. The man shouldered his sniper and fired before smoothly swapping the empty cartridge with a fresh one.

"I can help you know!" Ruby said. She didn't spare him a glance. He was probably trying to distract her because he didn't want to be showed up by a child.

"No, you know why? You're not a professional. First rule being a professional is be efficient," Mick said.

Ruby saw a group of three ADVENT soldiers cautiously creeping alongside a building. They were too far for her meager sidearm to do much, but she could at least tell the others about them… that was until a wooden creak alerted the enemy troops which turned into a crashing sound as a red barrel smashed onto the ground. They gave out alarmed and startled yells as the container exploded into a ball of fire that engulfed them all.

"Second is to be polite," the Australian sniper cheerfully said.

When the smoke cleared, two cooked corpses laid motionless in the sand. One survived, but had been knocked down by the force of the explosion and tried to get back up. Key word, tried, a masterfully placed sniper rifle bullet pierced through the helmet and into the skull of the ADVENT soldier. Its head was pushed into an obscenely painful angle before the survivor joined his dead friends.

"Good shot Sniper Wolf, and third," Ruby heard a rattle of the ladder and turned to see a heavily armored red colored machine climb onto the platform. It towered over any of them being a good three feet taller than herself and wore a golden bowl-like helmet. It raised a sleek, black gun the size of a man's chest aimed at them.

"Have a plan to kill everyone you meet."

There was a swoosh of air and Ruby saw a yellow filled jar arcing to it. The glass shattered upon the armor, showering it in the liquid. The soldier looked down at the mess then back at Mick who smugly smiled.

"Enjoy some acid wanker!"

The audible sizzle of the acid should have been panicking yet it stood calmly. It lifted the gun and Ruby tensed to dodge when the finger pulled the trigger, but a click came in response. The others were quick to take the opportunity, firing their sniper rifles into the head of the soldier. It stepped back under the barrage of bullets and Ruby joined in.

She had practiced with pistols before to help get used to the kick of various weapons and she assumed the 'Weve' stance.

Ruby tightly gripped the pistol with both hands and brought it up just below eye level. Spreading her feet apart, she thought there was a slight shake from the tower, but dismissed it before squaring her shoulders then fired. The weapon kicked back as a bullet was magnetically launched towards the ADVENT soldier. However, it jumped over the railing before the projectile could get near it.

She tracked the soldier's descent onto a table which was crushed upon impact. One of its hands snatched a round object and Ruby instantly recognized what it was.

Before she could yell out a warning, the soldier tapped a button and tossed it behind itself. The grenade landed at one of the supports and beeped ominously giving enough warning for the three of them to curse at their misfortune before exploding, consuming the metal and the tower groaned as the support imbalance pushed it inwards to the camp.

Ruby lost her balance as she was sent free falling off of the platform. For a few brief moments everything felt so light. She noticed the XCOM operatives herding a group of refugees to safety while fighting against another soldier similar to the one that had blown up the tower.

Then she crashed through a roof before there was any real thought going through.

Splinters and shards bounced off of her as Ruby collided with the dirt floor. Thankfully, her Aura absorbed the force but a good part of it was drained from her. No pain though, which was always a good thing. She got up and brushed off any debris that might have stuck to her whilst taking in her surroundings. It was hard to make out anything due to the dirty windows and the flickering lights, she thought this was a classroom that was probably in the middle of a painting session. Rowed desks with art canvases depicted heroic scenes such as a woman wearing a cape facing a chalkboard. The smell of paint and rotting flesh filled her nostrils. She could also hear a small, scared whimper came from somewhere near the board amidst all the gunfire and panic outside.

Ruby carefully maneuvered through the desks in an attempt not to frighten the person any further. If it was a person that is. She gripped the pistol, that she kept a hold on during the fall. She closed in to the sound, which came from behind. She checked the space between it and the wall to find the shadowed form of a child rocking back and forth in the fetal position. It was too dark to make out any details, but the kid appeared to be wearing a dress so maybe it was a girl?

"Don't worry! You're safe now!" Ruby said in a reassuring tone and reached out towards the child. "We need to get out of here quickly though!"

The girl turned her head back and Ruby stopped moving her hand. It wasn't a girl.

She was met by an unmoving, uncaring, cold face. Soulless, purple eyes stared into hers as the "dress" it was wearing burned away becoming golden specks as the creature stood up on its thin, bare legs revealing its naked and scrawny body in all of its disgusting glory. Ruby pulled her hand away in case the creature decided to try and attack her.

It then thrusted its left arm up and a glow illuminated the darkness. The light emitted from a device attached to a gauntlet of alien design and it was aiming directly between her eyes.

Reacting quickly, Ruby leaped to the side as green stuff shot by, grazing Ruby's ear.

" _That was plasma!"_ Ruby thought as her feet touched the ground. The creature then jumped out, letting off another beam that went over her head and shattering a window. It fired again, knocking out more lights as the darkness grew thicker. After the second shot, Ruby brought up the pistol and aimed it at its glowing chest, but it threw itself onto the floor and using all of its limbs, scurried into the dark.

She frantically looked around having never seen an enemy use a tactic like this before. Hisses, snaps, clattering, and scampering feet came from all angles making it hard to pinpoint where the sounds originated.

 _SNAP-HISS_

Ruby's ears perked up when the distinctive priming noise of the weapon got through to her. She folded one knee and hopped to the left as another shot of green stuff blazed by. A loud frizzle followed and metallic bangs echoed as assorted metal objects rolled about.

She spotted a glow in the dark where the shot was and jumped towards it. However, it faded and Ruby landed on a wall. For a moment, she maintained that position before rocketing off back into the center. Her logic was that this creature was using its aura and used it to speed up its run while tempting her to strike after it attacked. She would get it while it primed the weapon.

" _Such a fresh, young mind just ready to be broken!"_ A voice that sounded as if someone had tried combining the speech of a human and the hiss of a snake laughed manically.

Ruby felt a shiver ran down her spine. That laughter held such happy malice at the thought of breaking her mind. She only thought the most sadistic of minds could laugh at such a statement, and it probably was one of those minds.

 _Skim-scat, skim-scat._

The scuttling of feet alerted her that the assailant was coming in from the rear and whipping around, she expected it to be charging up for a shot. Instead, the creature was lunging, mouth wide open. Ruby, caught off guard, reflexively brought up her right arm to block it as she tried to propelling backwards to avoid the bite. However, it was already seconds ahead.

As soon as it had its mouth near the arm, it clamped down hard and a heartbeat later, Ruby flew back with the creature hanging on. A startled hiss abruptly ended when she landed and started beating it on top of the head with her pistol never thinking of outright shooting it in the face.

"GET OFF!" Ruby screamed. In response, it bit down harder and shook its head in small, but rapid movements, searing through the cloth. Each hit prompted it only to shake faster and bite harder.

The pummeling went on for what seemed like hours. Eventually, however, unable to handle the strain of the repeated strikes, the pistol cracked and broke apart. The parts flew in all directions, some smacking Ruby alongside the hand and head before ricocheting off and landing to the floor.

Glancing at the pistol, she saw that all that was left of the pistol was the handle and the bottom. The grip on Ruby's arm was lessened as if it was letting go. Upon looking back, the creature's head was dented and swollen. Orange liquid trickled down from fissures caused by the beating and white bone poked out of its flesh.

Ruby stared at it blankly as the corpse fell to the ground. One thought crossed her mind.

She killed her first alien monster. _Awesome!_

While it could indeed speak and think, it did attempt to kill her as well as spoke like it was going to enjoy murdering a Huntress. It wasn't all that different from a Grimm, but Grimm didn't speak. Nor torment you just before it would commit its cold-blooded murder. What did concern her though were the regular ADVENT soldiers. They were still people; ones she was supposed to protect regardless if they were aliens. They could have been brainwashed into fighting like Velvet.

A door being kicked opened cut Ruby from her thoughts and she turned around to see Johnson with a lit cigar casting a dim light on his face. The rest of his body was concealed by the shadows reducing it to an outline.

"It seems you killed your first alien 'Riding Hood, and without so much as a scratch to boot! Aside from dirtying your cloak that is. ADVENT is turning tail right now because we took down one of their big bad SPARTANs, but… a lot of good people died. Come on, we're getting rid of the rest."

The sergeant walked back out, Ruby followed closely behind. Outside, the chaos has calmed down somewhat. Fires still blazed, screams and gunfire tore through the air, albeit at a lesser degree and buildings collapsed due to the abundance of explosions.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the mess and taking out any surviving ADVENT. The XCOM team was injured, especially Sniper Wolf and Mick, and tired, but otherwise alive. The refugees suffered heavy losses, however. Their camp was in shambles with most buildings suffering structural damage that rendered them uninhabitable. When the scorching sun hovered over the western horizon giving way into the coldness of night, Ruby lazily sat on a rock watching Shepard digging through rubble to find bodies. He had spared her the sight of seeing the living bury the dead. Ruby was aware of the process as she had seen many times before. Albeit the bodies she did see buried died of natural causes, with the only exception being her mother.

While she had never personally seen someone killed, nature would take its course, friends and family got killed by whatever people or things, but their bodies, or what remained, were sent back for a funeral and she would normally attend. It always was filled with a depressing and mournful atmosphere like how the camp was now. A child's sorrowful cries pierced the air at the loss of a parent or a mother's soft sob, cradling her kid.

She had grown use to death, but she was horrified, however. The ADVENT ruthlessly gunned down anyone and everything in sight never caring if it was an unarmed civilian or not. It made her wonder if they were doing the same to Remnant right now, just gunning down anything that weren't them.

Which begs the question, if ADVENT was so great, according to their propaganda at least, how were they dealing with the Grimm problem?

Ruby was frightened as well, more than ever. The knowledge of not knowing what happened was frustrating and scary. At least she had backup though.

XCOM were heroes like in fairy tales, but without aura or powerful equipment. They had bravely charged in, even if the odds were horribly stacked against them to save innocents like Huntsmen and Huntresses. Now they were dealing with the aftermath and helping the survivors recover from their traumatic experiences.

"How did you survive?" Shepard asked something and Ruby looked over to see him pulling out a black and white corgi out of a crushed barrel. Its short and stubby tail wagged happily once its gray eyes landed on Ruby.

And for a moment all she could do was stare in amazement.

"

Hm?" Shepard followed its gaze to Ruby and raised an eyebrow. "This your dog?"

"

Zwei!"

Zwei barked happily and jumped onto Ruby knocking her down and eagerly licking her face. The Huntress laughed under the assault of a wet tongue.

"Dog!" Mick's panic struck voice stopped the licks. Both looked over to see the snipers walking in and flanking Shepard on either side.

Mick clasped a hand over his mouth and nose, intensely glaring at the corgi.

"Ignore him, he gets the sniffles every time something furry brushes against his legs," Sniper Wolf rolled her eyes.

"I don't get the sniffles! I could legitimately die from the wanker!" Mick angrily growled.

"For some. You? Just a really bad sneeze," Shepard joined in.

"Including watery e-ah, ah-" Mick sneezed, a quite strong sneeze at that. Ruby couldn't tell if she was impressed or disgusted, it reminded her of her first days at Beacon, more importantly, Jaune vomiting. More followed and sent him away to the setting sun before he was overwhelmed by a ruthless bombardment of them. Ruby watched him concerned that Zwei could cause unneeded suffering.

"Don't worry, he'll stay away from your pet if he knows what's good for him," Sniper Wolf said.

"But we are not bringing in an animal," Shepard crossed his arms and frowned.

"What? Why?" Ruby asked.

"I know Zwei is your friend, but having a dog running loose on board the Avenger could cause

serious harm."

"But he won't cause trouble if I tell him not to!"

"Commander, Ruby has just reunited with a missing friend, are you going to take that away?" Sniper Wolf stared accusingly at Shepard.

"There's reasons why-" Shepard began, but stopped, held up his index finger, and put it on his right ear where a radio rested, "This is Reaper-Actual… Tygan, no, we will not- no! People, we still have to maintain a… fine," Shepard huffed the last word.

"You can bring Zwei on board on the condition that he won't rouse trouble," Shepard said.

Ruby jumped with excitement and Zwei cheerfully barked. While they celebrated their reunion, Shepard looked over at the corgi. Upon noticing the ADVENT's symbol on the middle of the canine's spine, his eyes widened. He walked over to the both of them. Zwei and Ruby stopped, wondering what he was doing.

Further examination revealed a plastic strip matching the dog's fur. Shepard crouched down and ran a gloved hand over it. The dog started wagging his tail at the petting, not knowing that a square object had been glued to him. The Commander then pinched the right edge and peeled back the strip.

When fully removed, he saw a flat flash drive had been glued to Zwei's pink flesh. Shepard didn't know why ADVENT sent a dog as a messenger rather than threaten them with the usual couriers unless…this was meant for Ruby.

Questions burned in his head and he tried to find answers to them. How could the aliens have prepared a message so quickly? How did they know that Zwei was Ruby's pet? And most importantly what was on this drive?

Sniper Wolf leaned over his shoulder and asked," What is that?"

"My guess, a warning. The science team will have to find out what it is though. You know how the aliens love wasting their time," Shepard said as he pulled it off of Zwei's back. The dog gave an alarmed yip in return and put his tail between his legs.

Ruby had watched Shepard inspect Zwei and when he removed a device hurting the canine in the process, she was instantly by his side, scooping him up and holding him in her arms.

"I think ADVENT wants to tell you something, but that requires hacking into this flash drive," Shepard said.

Ruby tilted her head.

"Why would they do that?"

"Because you're a threat," Shepard answered

" _She managed to kill a Sectoid without taking a scratch aside from some ripped cloth and Tygan had told me about their Aura as well as the shit world they live in. At least it's better than most Anime worlds where there's some homicidal, insane god trying to destroy the human race, but the Grimm… if ADVENT managed to weaponize them and use them alongside the brainwashed Hunters then we really don't have much of a choice. If only Ruby was older then I would have no qualms about sending her into battle. The aliens are going to have a hayday with this aren't they?"_ Shepard thought, " _Well, it's time for the people of Remnant to join the fight."_

A/N: First fight! Hope it was suspenseful and good and if not, can you guys and gals suggest some tips if it wasn't to your liking?

And Ruby got to kill her first alien and we got to learn a little about the Sectoid's ability. Also, ADVENT has deployed SPARTANs. Yay! Wonder what else they'll send…

Anyways, I'll take suggestions on how to improve the story and ideas as some of you have thrown some pretty interesting ones out there I'm going to use. I also like to thank frigginnope for Beta-reading this and catching any errors and adding in details I might have missed during my proofreading. Another thanks goes to LordNodrogLock648 for sharing some character ideas that I'm plan on putting in. Me and LordNod did discuss the idea of a Grimm-Hybrid, but there's no Canon evidence to suggest one has existed or if it's even possible so I'm going to ask if it's a good idea to throw in one for reasons. Now we go onto the reviews which is… quite a bit!

 **Firem78910: Maybe, maybe not. You'll just have to see!**

 **TheGoodOne1998: I don't think ADVENT has managed to keep the ones they captured alive long enough for any meaningful experiments and it would take a lot of resources to kill all the Grimm. Still, we have no idea of what's happening with Remnant at the moment.**

 **New Universe Returns: That's story details, going into it would ruin the surprise I have in store. Also, thanks for respecting Muslims!**

 **ThatOnePsycho: Tygan and Ruby bitching in front of a alternate Ruby, that might appear if I want to do a LOLs chapter. Wonder how that will go?**

 **Evinco: The mechanics of Aura will be explored as the story goes on. As for Ruby trying to unlock a Earthling's Aura, it's my headcanon she doesn't know how as of yet. So far we only know Pyrrhia is capable of doing it and my guess is that the teachers know as well. So, for now there's no unlocking Aura.**

 **stonebreakerironhill: Yep. Gene Mods for everyone! Wait, this includes ADVENT…**

 **frigginnope: Yes, I do have awful grammar and my proofreading skills suck, but thanks for being my Beta-Reader!**

 **Phoenix Champion: Hmm, you do make a good point, but there's a few flaws. The first is that Grimm are indeed attracted to the negativity, but from what we have seen ADVENT has given the human population of Earth many wondrous devices such as the cure to cancer. The beasts would be more likely to attack refugee camps and we also know that the aliens love cloning which would allow them to counteract the Grimm.**

 **Then there's the possibility that the aliens have been studying Remnant for a unknown amount of time giving them knowledge of how to deal with Grimm as well as the people. Also, the portal was opened in air which would only allow for airborne Grimm to get through and any good and smart villain would have ensure anyone that crosses the portal would be peppered by plasma.**

 **And the White Fang are terrorists which means they don't have the greatest of equipment not to mention they only recruit Fanus(excluding their human 'benefactors') while ADVENT not only has control over a variety of species, but also entire worlds giving them access to a vast amount of resources. Now, XCOM is indeed a terrorist/Freedom Fighter organisation, but they have moles and a badass Commander to boot(us!) with save scumming and even then ADVENT has managed to hand XCOM players their asses many times. Sure, they could drop Grimm into the cities, but Earth doesn't have hordes of murderous black beasts now do they?**

 **We also don't know what happened to Cinder and Adam as of yet. They could have been captured, killed, escaped, etc. and we don't even know if Cinder has absorbed the Fall Maiden's powers yet. Pyrrhia was able to keep up(for a time) with her through use of skill and creativity putting in question of just how powerful a Maiden's power is. Course, this is caused by the plot so they might be a lot more powerful than we thought.**

 **luhar1997: Thanks for calling my story great! And to answer your questions, flashbangs are unknown for now. The 100 years is mainly for plot stuff and allow ADVENT to create some nasty toys. The Elders have also been conquering long before humanity so I wouldn't be surprised if they continued this to add meatshields to defend themselves against whatever they were fleeing from.**

 **edboy4926: That I shall!**

 **78190: That's a great idea! Thanks!**

 **Mr Fizz: It would be cool to see the three other Maidens join XCOM and fight. However, we must wait and see what the other Canon ones are unless you peoples are ok with me just throwing in OCs and other Canon characters to become the Maidens. And Salem is just bouncing with joy even if it does complicate her plans somewhat. As for pairings, it'll only be canon ones, buuuut I'm gonna ship tease the hell out of them for LOLs!**

 **Foreteller of Three: Sure!**


	5. Update

Hello everyone, Archwar here with a update. Unfortunately, I'm putting a hold to XCOM: Remnant because of school related stuff as well as other things. That, and I got distracted by a few things so I forgot about the story! XD

But I am also planning a rewrite once I'm in the clear, but I am also attempting to improve my writing and storytelling skills so it may be a bit before the rewrite appears. However, I plan on posting the first chapter of the rewrite sometime after Summer Break begins. I thank you for bearing with me and reading my story as well as giving out suggestions.

In the meantime, Archwar, signing off!


	6. Update 2

**Hello everyone! Summer is here and now with more free time on my hands, I can start focusing on writing the rewrite which is up now. I do thank you for reading through my first story and giving me ideas on what to do so here's my thanks to you! Enjoy the new story fellow Fanfic readers and writers!**


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